It's looking increasingly likely that Cristiano Ronaldo's nine years at Real Madrid are coming to a close with numerous reports claiming that the 33-year-old is set to move to Juventus for €100 million.
Sky Sports journalist Guillem Balague has been following the situation closely and offered an insight as to what is going on between all three parties over the last few days, and reckons that it was Ronaldo's camp that initially leaked the possibility that the forward could move to Serie A.
Balague said that the relationship between Ronaldo and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has 'reached the point of no return' and that the former Manchester United winger has been looking for houses in Turin for the past two months.
Balague stated that Juventus are willing to stump up the €100 million necessary to prize Ronaldo from the club, but are not prepared to pay much more due to potential issues with Financial Fair Play.
The 50-year-old went on to say after three years of Ronaldo threatening to leave the Spanish capital, he's never been as close to leaving:
This is a poker game that is being played here, (Ronaldo's saying) 'I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, stop me, and Real Madrid is saying okay go, go, go. But the cord is being so stretched it could break in a way that hasn't happened before.
Balague has warned Madrid that should Ronaldo leave the club, then there may be no ready made Galactico to replace him, especially with PSG's intent on holding onto both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Fuelling more speculation about an imminent transfer Sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has just recently tweeted a statement by Jorge Mendes in which the super agent which said that "If Cristiano will leave Real Madrid, he’ll be always grateful to the club, the president, Real Madrid fans. If it will happen, he’ll join a top club to continue his great career”
#Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo big update! Jorge Mendes just spoke to Record: “If Cristiano will leave Real Madrid, he’ll be always grateful to the club, the president, Real Madrid fans. If it will happen, he’ll join a top club to continue his great career” ??
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 5, 2018
It's looking more and more likely that Ronaldo could be a Juventus player by the end of the week.
