Cristiano Ronaldo has "already
signed" for Juventus according to the club's former CEO Luciano Moggi, who
claimed he tried to bring the Real Madrid star to Italy when he was a teenager.
Serie A champions Juventus are
reported to have made a bid of €100 million (£88m/$116m) for Ronaldo, who is
Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer after nine seasons at Santiago Bernabeu.
Moggi, who headed up Juve's board
from 1994 until 2006 when he was a central figure in the Italian football
scandal that saw him given a life ban from football, was initially sceptical of
the deal going through, but has since claimed the transfer was already at an
advanced stage.
The 80-year-old told Italian TV
network Tele7Gold : "In my opinion, he has already signed and passed
the medical examination with Juventus in Munich.
"This is what I think after
talking to important people."
Moggi recalled his attempts to make
Ronaldo a Juventus player in 2002, when he was emerging from the Sporting CP
youth ranks and becoming one of the Primeira Liga's hottest talents.
A proposed transfer involving
Chilean striker Marcelo Salas moving in the opposite direction never
transpired, according to Moggi, and Ronaldo joined Manchester United in 2003.
"I received an alert," said the former Juve chief. "I sent an observer to
look at him, he was an 18-year-old boy, but he impressed me with his maturity
and his choices.
"In the middle of the day I
made the contract. Unfortunately, Marcelo Salas refused to sign for Sporting
Lisbon because he wanted to return to River Plate.
"I offered five million more
for an 18-year-old player, but it could not be done at that time."
The prospect of the Portugal star
joining up with the Turin giants has been talked up by potential team-mate
Blaise Matuidi , who said: "It would be great to have one of the best
players in the world with Juventus in the same club that I am."
And the idea of the 33-year-old
reuniting with former Madrid colleague Gonzalo Higuain has the latter's brother
and agent excited, as he believes they would be "fantastic" together
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
No comments:
Post a Comment