The day finally came which Spanish club Real Madrid fans didn’t want to. Cristiano Ronaldo was presented in Turin on Monday (June 17) following the completion of his medical, to seal for €100 million (£88m/$117m) move to Serie A.
The Portugal International became a Juventus player following such a pomp owing to the whopping deal.
Speaking at his first press conference for Juventus, the 33-year-old expressed his intent of still playing at the highest level of professional football. And, instead of opting for the ‘easy’ option of signing for a club based in a lucrative Asian league.
Ronaldo told reporters: “I’m not sad about leaving Real Madrid, this is a big club and with all due respect players at this stage of my career usually go to Qatar or China, So I’m grateful to Juventus for allowing me to join such a big club.”
“I feel great to be here. It’s a big challenge, it’s a tough league but I’ll be ready. Age isn’t important, I feel good and motivated. I’m excited. I’ll try to do my best as always and I’m looking forward to trying to do my best and winning every title.”
Ronaldo is expected to start training with Juventus at the end of July and Serie A is expected to get underway on August 18.
“Juventus gave me a wonderful opportunity and I’m so grateful for that. I can see that Juventus is a club that can have a lot of success. They’ve won domestic cups and Scudetti and were in the final,” he said.
The former Real Madrid star Ronaldo also commented on his rivalry with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. It will naturally reduce now with him leaving La Liga.
“I don’t see players as rivals. Everyone speaks about my rivalry with Messi. But everyone fights for their own club and that’s what I’ll do here. In the end, we’ll look back and see who is the best,” Ronaldo said.