Juventus ready to off-load Ronaldo to cash-in on £540k-a-week star
Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly be put up for sale by Juventus to cash in on the Portuguese superstar before his contract runs out.
Sport reports the Old Lady are considering selling this summer for financial reasons given the state of play during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ronaldo reels in £540,000 a week – nearly FOUR times as much as the club’s next highest paid player Matthijs de Ligt.
The 35-year-old’s contract expires in 2022 and the Bianconeri risk seeing their prolific forward leave for free.
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The report states an extension to his current deal with its huge financial benefits is believed to be unsustainable.
Ronaldo is not getting any younger and the Serie A giants are hopeful they can recoup some of the £99million they forked out to sign the Portugal captain from Real Madrid in 2018.
He was signed by Juve chiefs with the aim of helping the Bianconeri dominate in the Champions League but bosses are frustrated after quarter-final and Last 16 exits since his arrival.
Ronaldo has scored 71 goals in 94 appearances for Juventus, including six strikes in just four games at the start of the current Serie A campaign.
But the former Red Devil was blasted as ignorant by retired Juventus ace Pasquale Bruno.
Speaking on Italian football show Tiki Taka, the 58-year-old fumed: “He is ignorant.
“He has been in Italy for two years and has not yet learned to speak our language.
“He uses Spanish to express himself. He has no respect for his team-mates or for the Italians.”
But team-mate and former Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata came to Ronaldo’s defence after his character was called into question.
The Spanish striker said Ronaldo was ‘loved by everyone’.
After their 4-1 Champions League victory over Ferencvaros, in which Morata scored twice, he said: “I don’t have to say who Cristiano is and what he does.
“He is always available, he makes himself loved by everyone, he is in the group.
“He is our most important player and we hope he will always take us to the next level.”
Ronaldo’s human side was also revealed by an Italian chef who described the humble celeb as a ‘decent boy’ after he was forced to wait 40 minutes for a table.
Turin cook Davide Fiore emphatically denied Ronaldo showed any signs of arrogance despite keeping him and his family waiting before a pre-Christmas dinner in 2018.