Cristiano Ronaldo has ‘told me that he’s staying,’ says Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri

By John Sinnott, CNN

Cristiano Ronaldo has “never wanted to leave Juventus,” according to the club’s coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Ronaldo, who has 12 months remaining on his Juve contract, has been the subject of much recent transfer speculation with Spanish TV show El Chiringuito suggesting a return to Real Madrid could happen.

There was also talk of a return to the Portuguese star’s first professional club Sporting CP, while Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes had offered the 36-year-old striker to Manchester City.

“Let’s clarify this issue, Ronaldo told me that he’s staying,” Allegri told reporters ahead of Juve’s Serie A opener at Udinese on Sunday.

“He has always trained well and has always been available.”

During Euro 2020, Ronaldo equaled the all-time international goalscoring record of 109 international goals set by Iran’s Ali Daei.

Nonetheless, since joining Juventus on a four-year deal for a reported $117 million transfer fee in 2018, the 36-year-old has been unable to lead the Italian team to a Champions League title, a competition he won four times with Real Madrid.

On Tuesday, Ronaldo said on social media that he “can’t allow people to keep playing around with my name.”

“More than the disrespect for me as a man and as a player, the frivolous way that my future is covered in the media is disrespectful to all the clubs involved in these rumors, as well as to their players and staff,” Ronaldo wrote in an Instagram post.

Meanwhile Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti tweeted that although Ronaldo was “a Real Madrid legend and he has all my affection and respect,” he never considered signing the forward.

Ronaldo won the Serie A title in his first two seasons with the Old Lady, but last season the club finished fourth as Inter Milan took the Scudetto, which perhaps explains the speculation.

“As well as this most recent episode in Spain, there have been frequent news and stories associating me with a number of clubs in many different Leagues, with nobody ever being concerned about trying to find out the actual truth,” Ronaldo said in his Instagram post.

Ronaldo ‘means guaranteed goals’

Despite Juve’s stuttering form last season, Ronaldo was Serie A’s top scorer with 29 goals.

“[Cristiano] Ronaldo didn’t play in our friendly on Thursday because I gave him half a day off to recover after a week of intensive training,” Allegri told the Juve website on Saturday.

‘He’s available for tomorrow. He gives us an extra gear and means guaranteed goals. We must work as a team to get the most out of him.

At the start of his second spell with Juve, Allegri won five Scudettos with Juve from 2015 to 2019.

“The first game is always difficult,” added Allegri. “Udinese are a strong, powerful team and they had one of the best defensive records last season in terms of chances conceded.

“They didn’t concede from corners and they’re dangerous on the counter with fast, skilful players.”

“It’s going to be a finely fought season and you can’t have peaks at 100 and then 30, better to have a cruising speed of 80 to 90.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.