By looking at Thursday’s newspaper in Italy, one thing seems rather clear: Manchester City have an interest in signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
The issue, however, is they want to do so on a free transfer, and that’s something Juventus are absolutely against.
That’s why, according to both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, Jorge Mendes has now travelled to Turin to try and get something sorted, first by meeting with his client.
We’ll start with the former of the two, who explain, rather logically, that Harry Kane’s social media post on Wednesday has forced Manchester City to consider alternative routes.
It’s now up to Pep Guardiola to decide whether he wants to continue the season with just one designated striker in Gabriel Jesus, or turn his attention to the Portuguese superstar, who is desperate to leave the Serie A side this summer.
Juventus, down their end, wouldn’t be against a sale, since they would offload the former Manchester United man’s huge wages off their books, but they also want €29m for him, which is what is left to amortise on their books.
As for Manchester City, they would want him for less, ‘or even zero’.
The idea of players from the Etihad being put as part of the deal is also one to consider, but Guardiola doesn’t want to part ways with Jesus, whom Juventus have been after ‘for months’.
The alternative would be Raheem Sterling, whom Barcelona are said to also be keen on, but that isn’t exactly a like for like transfer either.
All of this is echoed by Corriere dello Sport, who make it very clear, by their extremely clever headline, that Manchester City only want Cristiano Ronaldo for nothing by calling him ‘CRzero’.
The aim of Mendes’ Turin trip was to meet with the Portuguese forward to then ‘present to Juventus the conditions imposed by Mansour’, describing the next few hours as ‘frenetic’ as a meeting with the Serie A side’s brass ‘can no longer wait’.
It’s made clear ‘the negotiations have already started’ between the agent, Ronaldo and Manchester City, but the club’s owner only wants him ‘for free’.
A deal ‘isn’t easy, but is no longer impossible’, as Mendes is ‘working tirelessly’, knowing he will have to ‘make use of all his gifts as an exceptional intermediary to file down the requests’ of Juventus, who want at least €25m for the transfer.
If he can do that, the idea would be for Ronaldo to sign a contract until 2023, the same year Guardiola has said he would end his run as Manchester City manager.
The clock is ticking, with less than a week in the transfer window, and there’s no doubt that if this transfer does go through, a huge domino effect will likely take place.
Exciting times ahead, and if one man can get this sorted, it’s probably Jorge Mendes.
