Sports
WHY I LEFT REAL MADRID! Florentino Pérez only ever saw me as a means of making money, says Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has said he departed Real Madrid for the Old Lady due to a deterioration in the relationship between him and the Spanish club’s president, Florentino Pérez.
In July, the number 7 joined Juventus from the Bernabeu for around €100m after nine trophy-filled seasons, winning 15 major trophies, including four Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles.
However, in an interview with France Football, Ronaldo was critical of Pérez, saying the Real Madrid president only ever saw him as a means of making money.
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“He only ever looked at me as a business relationship,” he said.
“I know it. What he told me never came from the heart.”
“I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start.
“In the first four or five years there, I had the feeling of being ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’. Less afterwards. The president looked at me through eyes that didn’t want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean.
“That’s what made me think about leaving. Sometimes I’d look at the news, where they were saying I was asking to leave. There was a bit of that, but the truth is that I always had the impression that the president would not hold me back. If it had all been about money, I’d have moved to China, where I would have earned five times as much than here [at Juventus] or at Real. I did not come to Juve for the money. I earned the same in Madrid, if not more. The difference is that, at Juve, they really wanted me. They told me that and made it clear. They showed me that.”
The 33-year-old, who scored 44 goals for Madrid last season and has seven for Juventus, is aiming to win the Ballon d’Or for the third year in a row.
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“I think I deserve it this year … Yes, I dream of winning the Ballon d’Or for the sixth time and passing, in this case, Lionel Messi.”
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