The background on the last 24 hours of Ronaldo and Mendes: the escape from Juve, the move of United and Ferguson, the retreat of City | First page

Now the last chapter has really been written. What Cristiano Ronaldo saw away from Juve to fly to Manchester was only the penultimate, one more was needed for the last and definitive twist: no City, it will be CR7-bis at United. This is and will not change anymore. But when Mendes returned to Oporto after the Paris blitz to meet a delegation from City, everything was ready for the sensational arranged marriage between Ronaldo and Pep Guardiola: the desire to approach Juve’s requests had emerged from the Mansour club despite being starting from wanting to hug him for free, the offer still had to wait for Raheem Sterling’s release, but by now only optimism filtered through. Above all, Ronaldo could no longer go back. During the night, however, United’s incursion, which only at that point had acknowledged that in the end CR7 could really have left Juve to really go to City (it is repeated to strengthen): a scenario that one person above all could not accept, Sir Alex Ferguson. From him comes the decision to join, take note of the conditions for which Ronaldo’s passage to rivals was taking place, immediately declare that he was ready to equalize them or even improve them if necessary. And this time CR7 didn’t think twice: rather than two years to be put up with by Guardiola with whom he had already spoken, declaring that he was ready for the sensational transfer, better to be embraced by the club where he grew up and to be trained by that Solskjaer with whom he also played four seasons. THE DAY – The rest came almost as a result, very quickly, at least as much as the last farewell to the teammates at Continassa and the departure for Lisbon immediately after Ronaldo. And when Ronaldo told Mendes to bring him to United, on the City front there was not the slightest attempt to keep the point: Sterling was still in his place and could stay there, without any regrets that offer that was to arrive at Continassa it just wasn’t presented. Everyone is happy in any case: Ronaldo above all signs a two-year deal worth around 25 million per season and will not have to live by compromises. And Juve will avoid the loss by obtaining a total of between 23 and 25 million, including bonuses. Happy, so to speak, perhaps “all relieved” is more accurate. However Ronaldo wanted to leave and he succeeded, Allegri was waiting for nothing else and now he is waiting for the substitute. But that will be the first chapter of another story, the last one has been written and no longer includes any ending other than the one read in these hours.-
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