Cristiano Ronaldo has explained why he made the surprise decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus in the summer, revealing how his departure was related to president Florentino Perez no longer valuing him the same.
There were a flurry of reports of how the five-time Ballon d'Or winner came to end his nine-year stint with Los Blancos and move to the Serie A champions, but until now Ronaldo had not had his say himself.
However, he was now provided an in-depth answer to the question on everyone's lips. It had nothing to do with Zinedine Zidane leaving following three successive Champions League, instead it was more about Ronaldo feeling he wasn't 'numero uno' anymore.
"I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start," he told France Football, via the Guardian.
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"In the first four or five years there, I had the feeling of being 'Cristiano Ronaldo'.
"Less afterwards. The president looked at me through eyes that didn't want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean.
"That's what made me think about leaving. Sometimes I'd look at the news, where they were saying I was asking to leave.
"There was a bit of that, but the truth is that I always had the impression that the president would not hold me back."
Ronaldo is poised to earn a €30 million a year in Turin but says money was anything but the motivation for his change of scenery - noting that he could have earned megabucks as a mercenary in China.
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"If it had all been about money, I'd have moved to China, where I would have earned five times as much than here [at Juventus] or at Real," the 33-year old added.
"I did not come to Juve for the money. I earned the same in Madrid, if not more. The difference is that, at Juve, they really wanted me. They told me that and made it clear. They showed me that."
It was a slow start to begin with for the former Manchester United man, but Ronaldo has now found his feet in Italy - scoring seven goals and contributing further with four assists for the Bianconeri.
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He scored twice in the win over Empoli at the weekend, with his second goal an absolute screamer from distance.
Topics: Football News, Football, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
