The Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus transfer narrative is gaining more traction by the hour. As difficult to believe as it was at first, it’s certainly looking more likely by the day. The radio silence by Juve speaks volumes. Obviously, nothing is done yet, but if/when it is, Manchester United will receive a nice payday.
United sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then world record £80 million. They brought him over from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, when CR7 was just 18 years old. Prior to Sporting, Ronaldo was with Nacional.
All three of these clubs stand to benefit financially if the rumored Ronaldo sale to Juve (for £88 million) goes through.
The Daily Express calls to our attention the Solidarity Mechanism formula, which indicates that “clubs who helped develop a player are due a split of 5% of any transfer fee.”
The Express cites Portuguese newspaper Record, who calculated the following:
Manchester United: £2.2m
Sporting Lisbon: £1.98m
Nacional: £220,000
So is this cash infusion headed Old Trafford’s way? We won’t know for sure until it’s signed, sealed and delivered, but former Juventus CEO Luciano Moggi has suggested that Ronaldo has already finalized his contract, and that an announcement should be forthcoming in the next couple of days.
Meanwhile Goal “can confirm the 33-year-old is close to completing a move to the Serie A side, having already reached an agreement over a four-year contract worth €30 million (£26.5m/$35m) per season.”
Many people thought that if Ronaldo were to actually leave Madrid it would be for United, with maybe a possibility of Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain. Thus, these developments with Juve are quite surprising.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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