Cristiano Ronaldo Considering Cutting Juventus Ties Two Years Early After Champions League Exit
Cristiano Ronaldo has been a Juventus player for less than a year, but reports in Italy claim he already has one eye on the exit door, and is considering moving on if the club don't build on their poor showing in the Champions League.
The 34-year-old signed a four-year deal in Turin in the summer, and given his unparalleled European pedigree - he is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, winning the trophy five times in total - he was touted as the man who would end Juve's 22-year wait to win the competition.
He did all he could to get them there as well. Having lost the first leg of their last 16 tie 2-0 to Atletico Madrid, he showed up with a hat-trick in the return tie to book a quarter final place – and although he netted in each leg against Ajax, his side still lost 3-2 on aggregate having been one of the favourites to win the tournament.
It means that he will play no part in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2009/10 season, and Italian newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport and La Repubblica report, per The Mirror, that he is less than pleased with that development.
🇮🇹 📰 |
— Arjun Pradeep (@IndianRegista) April 18, 2019
Front pages of Gazzetta, Corsport and Tuttosport headline on a Juventus revamp.
Cristiano Ronaldo is furious & is waiting for reinforcements. CR7 remains the only guarantee for Juventus this summer.
The club is already targeting to play the 2020 UCL final in Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/e38MaZi2io
The claim is that he will leave next summer unless the squad is improved enough to convince him that they can compete for Europe's top accolade, and as such, significant changes are expected in the transfer market.
Juve are already, it seems, planning for the 2020 Champions League final, and are thought to be considering moves for the likes of Barcelona's Samuel Umtiti and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in order to get there.