With each passing day it's looking more and more likely that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be a Real Madrid player come the start of next season. The 33-year-old has been heavily linked with a €100 million move to Juventus, where the forward would earn a reported €30 million a year.
But it appears that there are other clubs willing to spend big in order to acquire the five time Ballon d'Or winner, with Marca reporting that an unnamed Chinese club offered the star a two-year contract €100 million a year back in December of last year.
Yet despite this massive potential payday, a move to Juventus is the forward's preferred destination, with Spanish sports journalist Guillem Balague revealing that the former Manchester United winger has been looking at houses in Turin for the past two months.
The relationship between Ronaldo and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has been strained as of late, and according to La Republica State the 71-year-old will insist on a confidentiality clause should the player leave, meaning that Ronaldo will have to announce the decision to leave himself as well as stating that it was his personal decision to seek a move from the Bernabeu. Should Ronaldo fail to comply, Perez will raise the price of his transfer from the club, which currently stands at €100 million.
But despite all of the transfer hullabaloo, current Real Madrid team mate Luka Modric believes that Ronaldo will stay in the Spanish capital. Speaking to AS after his side's win over Russia in the quarter final of the World Cup on Saturday, the 32-year-old stated that he can't imagine the Portugese captain at another European club:
I don't think he's going to go and I would like him to stay because he's the best player in the world. He means a lot and hopefully he will stay.
I think he's going to stay, that's my opinion. It would be very good if he stayed because I can't imagine him in any other European team.
