Ronaldo reportedly bids farewell to Juventus teammates and clears out locker at training ground ahead of potential Man City switch
Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly left Juventus's training ground after saying his goodbyes to his teammates teammates, with an exit to Manchester City expected to be confirmed later today.
Reports vary between the Portuguese taking 40 minutes and an hour and a half to clear out his locker and bid farewell at the Continassa complex, just as the Juve first team was starting a session that he will not take part in.
The Turin outfit are yet to confirm the development, but they have a press conference scheduled ahead of their Serie A clash against Empoli tomorrow set to take place at around 12.30pm CET on Friday.
Ronaldo is said to have told them on Thursday night that he wishes to leave after three years in the Italian top flight.
Cristiano Ronaldo has left Juventus training center after 40 minutes to say goodbye to his teammates. He only wants to leave the club in the next hours. 🇵🇹🚫 #RonaldoNO training today. Ronaldo is waiting for Mendes to bring the official bid as it’s still verbal with Man City.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 27, 2021
Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano added that the 36-year-old "only wants to leave the club in the next [few] hours" and is waiting for a concrete offer from City via his agent Jorge Mendes as up to now everything has been verbal.
City's widely-reported proposal is believed to comprise a two-year deal worth between €14 million ($16.5 million) and €15 million ($17.6 million) per season.
This would halve the wages Ronaldo agreed with Juve when leaving Real Madrid to join the Old Lady, making him Serie A's highest-paid player – but as a resurfaced 2015 interview with the BBC has highlighted, Ronaldo claims not to be motivated by financial gain.
"You think the money is going to change my mind now?," CR7 asked in the interview while grinning.
"I don't think so. I think it is not going to be the problem, because if you will speak about the money, I will go to Qatar.
"[They] maybe have more money than Manchester City, but it's not about the money. It's about the passion."
Cristiano Ronaldo explaining why he wouldn’t move to Man City pic.twitter.com/UqajKrczuX
— Devils of United 🔰 (@DevilsOfUnited) August 24, 2021
Posting a story of Ronaldo joining her for a cardio session on an exercise bike last night to her 27 million followers, his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, made no mention on Instagram of them moving from north-west Italy to north-west England.
While filming her documentary in homeland Spain before Portugal's limp defence of their Euro 2020 crown, however, she had claimed he would stay put with the Bianconeri.
Also on rt.com ‘He’s staying’: Cristiano Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez confirms superstar is not leaving Juventus