Ronaldo celebrated three league titles with Manchester United between 2003 and 2009 (pictured). / Picture: (c) Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo's change intentions kept the football world in suspense on Friday. Almost every hour there were new developments around the Portuguese. At first, Manchester City seemed to be in pole position, a little later everything pointed to a return to Manchester United. The only thing that is fixed so far is that Ronaldo has announced his departure from Juventus Turin.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Ronaldo's departure plan on Friday. “He told me yesterday that he doesn't want to stay with us.” The Italian emphasized that he was not disappointed about this. “The club is the most important thing. He was here for three years and made his contribution, now he's leaving us and life goes on.”
According to Allegri, Ronaldo announced on Saturday that he wanted to continue playing for Juventus. “But then the situation changed. You have to accept that,” said the 54-year-old. According to British media reports, Ronaldo has already received an offer for a two-year contract – from Manchester United, not from city rivals City. “Red Devils” coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was cryptic on this matter. “I didn't think he was leaving Juventus but if he leaves Juventus he'll know where we are.”
“Cristiano is a club legend”
Solskjaer reported that he himself had contact with the 36-year-old as well as United's Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes. “Cristiano is a club legend, in my opinion the greatest footballer of all time. Let's see what happens to him.” Ronaldo played for ManUnited from 2003 to 2009 and during this time was three times champion and one Champions League winner. This is another reason why speculation about a move to City caused a stir.
Coach Pep Guardiola was buttoned up on this matter on Friday afternoon. “I can only say that anything is possible in the three or four days until the transfer deadline,” said the Catalan and added: “In my opinion, there are only a few players – and that includes Ronaldo and Messi – who decide for themselves where they play. Cristiano will decide where he will play, not Manchester City or me. “
A little later, the English media reported that ManCity had withdrawn the offer. For the time being, there was no official statement from the English master. At least Paris Saint-Germain made a clear statement. “We never thought about signing him,” said club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Thursday evening about Ronaldo. This will mean nothing with a club partnership between the Portuguese and Lionel Messi.
And what about Mbappe?
Even at PSG, things are likely to get hot in terms of transfers in the coming days. Allegedly, Real stepped up in advertising for Kylian Mbappe on Friday and already offered 170 million euros plus other bonuses for the French world champion, whose contract expires in 2022.
According to official information, PSG continue to refuse to give up the 22-year-old striker, but are said to be working on a replacement variant behind the scenes. According to various media reports, in the event of Mbappe leaving, Erling Haaland could be detached from Dortmund by around 200 million euros. BVB has so far ruled out a transfer of its star striker this summer.
