ROME – Spanish football club Real Madrid has announced that its star player Cristiano Ronaldo is officially leaving the team’s ranks to join Juventus.
Real Madrid said in a statement (in Spanish) that it was because of Portuguese star footballer’s intentions and desire to leave that they accepted the deal, but that Madrid will always be his home.
The footballer himself also said that the time has come for “a new stage” in his life.
⚽⭐? Carta de Cristiano Ronaldo.
✍ https://t.co/N6ssf0qoca#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/tLNYvnMzQq
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) July 10, 2018
While the transfer fee wasn’t officially announced, Spanish media outlets cited by Reuters claim that Ronaldo signed a four-year deal which cost Juventus about $123.24 million.
This makes Juventus one of the favorites to win the Champions League next season, combining Ronaldo with Paulo Dyala and Gonzalo Higuain up.
During his ten-year career with Real Madrid, Ronaldo became the club’s all-time top scorer with 451 goals and won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.
Earlier, Diario AS newspaper also reported that Real Madrid is considering several potential candidates, including Neymar, Mbappe and Hazard, as possible replacements for Ronaldo.
