Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Juventus is coming to an end. The love story between the Portuguese superstar and Italy’s most successful club looks in need of a marriage guidance councillor, but it seems unlikely that the two will still be an item come the summer.
All the talk in the peninsula is that the Old Lady want to replace CR7 with Brazilian icon Neymar and it seems as though Paris Saint-Germain are ready to sit down and listen to what the Italians have to say. If not, Man United and Ed Woodward are keen, according to reports.
But should they be? What’s the real reason behind Ronaldo becoming surplus to requirements in Turin and why is PSG the possible alternative? We have the answers below.
TOO MUCH, TOO OLD
Ronnie checked in at Juventus in 2018 with the sole intention of helping them win the Champions League for the first time since 1996. Two years on and its finally dawned on him that he’s got about as much chance of winning European football’s greatest club prize with the Bianconeri as Phil Jones has of being recalled to the England set-up for Euro 2020/21.
Over recent weeks, CR7 has started to cut a more frustrated figure with insiders at Juventus claiming he’s been ready to offer anyone out for merely suggesting that the only reason he’s had his hair cut short, is to disguise the fact that he’s going bald.
Indeed, Ronaldo is said to have gone; “F***ing ballistic,” when he overheard Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini joking that his bronze statue in his homeland of Madeira, is now actually better looking than the real thing.
SANTA CRUZ, MADEIRA, PORTUGAL – MARCH 29: Statue of Cristiano Ronaldo at the ceremony at Madeira Airport to rename it Cristiano Ronaldo Airport on March 29, 2017 in Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
PIRLO GETS THE HAIRDRYER TREATMENT
Andrea Pirlo’s surprise appointment as the new coach at Juve has also not gone down well with Ronaldo. Having played under some of the greatest managers to have ever sat in a dug-out, Pirlo’s more laid back approach since his arrival in Turin is understood to have been like a red rag to a bull for CR7.
The former Italian international’s touchline demeanour has wound Ronnie up like a coiled spring and things allegedly came to a head after his last outing for the Bianconeri against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. Having given his side the lead, Ronaldo was substituted with 14 minutes remaining of a game that the home side rescued with an injury-time equaliser.
Eye witness accounts claim that in the dressing-room after the game, Ronaldo approached Pirlo to ask why he’d taken him off in such a big game. After Pirlo responded by simply raising his left eyebrow, the Portuguese legend went into a fit of rage and smashed up all three of his manager’s hairdryers in front stunned team-mates.
MILAN, ITALY – MAY 21: Andriy Shevchenko, Antonio Cabrini, Marcello Lippi and Andrea Pirlo attend Special Teams Legends Onlus Press Conference on May 21, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
HE’S TOO BLOODY EXPENSIVE
Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli announced recently that the club, despite having a fan base that stretches right around the world, had reported an operating loss of over 80 million euros. A visit to the club’s training centre shortly before the international break apparently caused consternation on the part of the patron, when he nipped into the changing rooms and found a copy of “What Aeroplane?” magazine stuck out of Ronaldo’s kit bag.
After training had finished, Agnelli is reported to have approached CR7, who was making his way back to his brand new Lamborghini, to ask if he was seriously thinking about buying another private jet whilst the club were feeling the pressures of the current pandemic.
Ronaldo, apparently taken aback by his boss’s out of character behaviour, gave him short shrift by simply declaring; “Why? What are you gonna do about it? Replace me with Neymar?”
THE PARIS MATCH
Paris Saint-Germain are going to be swimming in dough this summer if they decide to part company with Neymar and French striking sensation Kylian Mbappe. Sources close to the club have said that transfer supremo, the former Brazilian international Leonardo, is so keen to bring another global superstar to the French capital, that he is ready to give Ronaldo the Eiffel Tower as a gift instead of a signing on fee.
CR7’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has reportedly been in secret talks with the Parisian’s and has told Leonardo that a move to the Parc des Princes will see his client become; “Bigger than Ligue 1 itself.” Mendes is also believed to have asked Leonardo is if it would be possible for both himself and Ronnie to be allowed to live in the Palace of Versailles for the duration of his stay at the club, rather than a city centre hotel.
BIG TIME CHARLIE
Another carrot reportedly being dangled in front of Ronaldo is that he would only have to play in Champions League matches. Leonardo, in his discussions with Mendes, is understood to be prepared to draft up a contract which would see Ronnie only having to appear in the European games, which could prolong his career by a further 10 years.
There’s even talk of a shock return to Paris for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with Leonardo looking into the possibility of having the oldest forward line in World football next season – although any rumour of a move to bring former Celtic legend Henrik Larsson out of retirement, was immediately quashed by the Brazilian chief.
Finally, being guaranteed to win the French title every season by pretty much turning out a second-string XI, means that CR7 will get plenty of time to zip here, there and everywhere in his new jet thus sticking two fingers up to Juve and the Agnelli family at the same time.
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