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Published 11:59 13 Jul 2018 BST
Updated 12:01 13 Jul 2018 BST
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"This thing took root when he scored that outrageous overhead goal against Juventus in the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League," Hunter has said on his podcast, The Big Interview.
"The fans applauded him and he bowed to them. In the mix-zone afterwards, he spoke about how he always admired Juventus."
It appears that this moment convinced Ronaldo that Juventus was a club worth joining. Unlike at Madrid, Ronaldo seemingly felt that he would be appreciated at the Italian club. This, along with the money on offer, was the key factor in his decision to leave Real.
Around the same time, his relationship with Florentino Perez, the Madrid president cooled.
"It came to a head several months ago, when Cristiano was telling Real Madrid time and time again that he wasn't particularly happy there," Hunter said.
"And they went, 'Okay, what we'll do is, we'll lower your buyout clause so that it's €100m, rather than €1,000m'. And, I think it's pretty well established that Cristiano Ronaldo, at that point, took it that that meant Real Madrid no longer wanted him quite as much. And the deal was struck."
Hunter says that Ronaldo never really felt fully appreciated at Madrid, and there was tension because Ramon Calderon, rather Perez, was the Real president who completed the deal to land the Portuguese forward from United.
Ronaldo is also understood to said following the Champions League final victory over Juventus that if United were based in a Mediterranian country, he would re-join them as he always felt appreciated at Old Trafford.Football

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