So this might actually happen
Manchester City have reportedly agreed personal terms with Cristiano Ronaldo, as the Juventus star looks for a route out of the Italian club.
Juventus are keen to offload Ronaldo, who is currently taking half a million pounds a week out of their wage budget, but are demanding a fee, while City are hoping to sign the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on a free.
Spanish newspaper AS are reporting that personal terms are all agreed, with earlier reports from Sky Italy suggesting Ronaldo would be paid £12.8m-per-season, just over a third of what he earns in Italy.
💣💥¡Hay acuerdo entre el Manchester City y Cristiano Ronaldo!
🇮🇹Solo falta que la Juventus acepte la inclusión de un jugador del City pic.twitter.com/JCb02Gjuba
— Diario AS (@diarioas) August 26, 2021
AS also report that City have offered Juventus Raheem Sterling as part of the deal, while Juve would prefer to take Gabriel Jesus in return.
There are still factors to iron out before this deal can happen, but the wheels are in motion.
This would cause a civil war pic.twitter.com/GrszPK73bX
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) August 25, 2021
Juventus signed Ronaldo in 2018 in a bid to get them over that final hurdle and win the Champions League. By any measure, particularly the absence of the Champions League trophy in their trophy cabinet, it didn’t work.
In signing Ronaldo now, City would be taking a similar gamble on a 36-year-old player who does not press the opposition out of possession, hoping that he will score enough goals to secure one last league title before Pep Guardiola leaves next summer.
City also have a similar fixation on winning the Champions League, and got closer than ever before last season before losing to Chelsea in the final. Would the arrival of Ronaldo help them get over the line? Would Guardiola even trust Ronaldo to play against the toughest opposition given his lack of work off the ball?
We’ll have to wait and see.
