August 26, (THEWILL) – Reports being monitored by THEWILL reveal that Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has supposedly reached an agreement on personal terms with English Premier League champions Manchester City ahead of a return to England before the end of the current transfer season.
The reported deal follows from speculations, as THEWILL reported around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner pushing for a move out of his Serie A side Juventus, on the one hand, and the inability of City to fill in the striker slot vacated by Sergio Aguero.
To finalise the deal, there are reports that Jorge Mendes, who is Ronaldo’s agent, had flown into Turin on Thursday to negotiate the departure of his client as the plans have advanced quickly to get Ronaldo to sign for the England champions in time before the transfer deadline at the end of August.
The stories of a potential exit for the record-breaking Portuguese forward took on extra significance after manager Massimiliano Allegri left him on the bench for the Serie A opening fixture against Udinese on Sunday. Although he came in as a substitute to score a last gasp winner, the goal was ruled out for offside.
When the rumour mill went into overdrive about the signs that Ronaldo may be seeking a way out of the Old Lady, Pavel Nedved, Juve’s vice-chairman, played down any speculation that any of these meant Ronaldo was looking to leave.
Yet, these new reports point to a last-minute push for that very outcome on the part of the 36-year-old. It comes from the story making the rounds that Ronaldo himself had confided to his teammates that he wants to join Man City, coinciding with the arrival of his agent.
Mendes reached Turin on Thursday to speak with Ronaldo, and there was an arranged meeting with Juventus officials in Turin that was reportedly tense.
Yet, none of these has been confirmed on the City side nor have the current champions of England made any formal bids for the striker. So far, the only official striker offer that is on record to have come from City was that now-failed bid to bring Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane to the Etihad.
As THEWILL reported, the insistence of Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy to keep Kane was largely responsible for the failure of City’s intention to attract Kane. Levy demanded a £150million transfer fee for Kane, which was a bridge too far for City that had doled out £100m to get Jack Grealish from Aston Villa.
Kane made a U-turn on Wednesday and decided to remain at Spurs while tweeting: “It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I’ve had in the last few weeks.
“I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100 per cent focused on helping the team achieve success.”
So far, it remains in the realm of speculation that a deal can be reached to effect the transfer of Ronaldo to City before the window shuts and if City will consider it in their interest to take on the wage bill bringing in Ronaldo necessarily infers.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
