You thought Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus would be the biggest transfer of the summer? You were wrong.
Two of Italy’s biggest clubs have been busy cooking up something far more interesting and — because this is Serie A — something infinitely more complicated. Juventus and Milan have decided to lock themselves into a three-player exchange deal involving loans, buy-outs and big, big wages. So, what’s actually happening?
Cristiano Ronaldo reported for his first day of preseason training with Juventus yesterday, and although the Portuguese legend looked pretty chummy in photographs with fellow striker Gonzalo Higuain, the arrival of The 120 Million Dollar Man obviously spelled the end of the Argentine’s two-year stay in Turin.
Benfica vs. Juventus wasn’t exactly one of the more glamorous matchups brought to us by the International Champions Cup. But it brought us the two best goals of the preseason tournament, namely the Luca Clemenza goal vs Benfica on Saturday at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
The match was scoreless after an hour. The deadlock was broken in the 65th minute by Benfica’s 22-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Grimaldo, who smashed a free kick that dipped perfectly into the back of the net.
After years of legal complications with the Spanish government, tax evasion and fraud, Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s tax agency reached a deal and a two-year prison sentence. The Ronaldo tax settlement will cost the Juventus forward $22 million. The jail term is suspended given Spain’s no-prison law for first-time offenders of non-violent crimes if the term is two years or less.
AC Milan’s new general manager, the Brazilian Leonardo, confirmed Leonardo Bonucci’s desire to return to Juventus after only one season. The 31-year-old defender shockingly transferred to the Rossoneri in 2017 after six years of dominance in Serie A.
What do R&B singer R. Kelly, plastic surgery-obsessed Los Angelenos and Cristiano Ronaldo have in common? For them, age is nothing but number. Certainly, the 33-year-old has shown he can more than hang with the the best of young bucks as he finished as Champions League top scorer this past season and helped to bring home the third trophy in a row for Real Madrid.
Less than a week after Ronaldo made his move to Juventus official, his former manager at Real Madrid is set to join him at the Old Lady. The Zinedine Zidane Juventus connection extends back to the prime of his career. Zidane spent five seasons at Juventus from 1996-2001, during which time he won a Ballon d'Or and finished runner-up in the Champions League twice.
Fresh off his holiday in Greece following Portugal’s Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Uruguay, Cristiano Ronaldo has sauntered into Turin with fans baying for some “Siiuuu!” and a first Champions League crown since 1996.
After Cristiano Ronaldo’s $117 million transfer to Juventus FC on July 10 and with the constant meme flow of Neymar “Flop Master Crash” Jr. during the World Cup, the Portuguese and Brazilian are no strangers to harsh criticism. So in lieu of that, let’s pit the two buggers against each other and see who survives the fan warfare. This is Ronaldo vs Neymar.
For those of you who think this is unfair, other than crying us a river, what’s wrong with a little playing with fire every now and then? Metaphorically, please don’t play with actual fire.
Back in June we showed you the new FIFA 19 cover for this year’s edition. There are a few different versions of the FIFA video game depending upon how much extra money you want to pay for a few small annual updates, but all three covers have one thing in common: Cristiano Ronaldo. In a Real Madrid uniform.
There’s one small problem: Ronaldo doesn’t play for Real Madrid anymore.