Real Madrid said goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo in July of this year, but the player’s journey through the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu exit doors began in May of 2017.
His problems with the Spanish tax authorities kicked off a series of discussions and decisions which ultimately led him to Turin and to Juventus.
This is according a fresh report published by El Mundo.
They reveal that Ronaldo held a meeting at the home of his agent Jorge Mendesin May of 2017, with his advisors in attendance.
“I said I didn’t want any risks,” Ronaldo told his advisors, referring to the legal troubles that had been caused by tax non-payments.
“I didn’t study and the only thing I’ve done in my life is play football, but I’m not stupid and I don’t trust anyone.
“That’s why I always pay 30 percent more than is requested when I hire an assessor.
“It’s because I don’t want problems.”
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Lawyer Carlos Osorio, who was at the meeting, explained that he had been in charge of these fiscal issues, but urged Ronaldo not to worry.
Some months later, when he had to make a pact with the tax authorities, he became very angry.
“I never said not to pay taxes!” he exclaimed to his advisors.
“I want to know what happened.
“I don’t understand anything, as the taxes should be paid by sponsors, so why do they accuse me?”
Having had to fork out payments to the Spanish tax authorities, Ronaldo hoped that Real Madrid would offer him an improved contract to soften the financial hit, as he believed Barcelona had done with Lionel Messi.
Yet the capital city club wanted to keep a distance from Ronaldo and his legal issues, which he viewed as a betrayal.
He also considered it a lack of respect that Messi was earning double his wages and that Neymar had moved ahead of him in the salary rankings after the Brazilian’s move to Paris Saint-Germain.
His anger became so much that Zinedine Zidane reportedly spoke to the directors to ask them to solve the issue, claiming that Ronaldo was discussing it too much in the dressing room.
On top of all that, the Portuguese was also irritated by the fact that Alfredo Di Stefano was continually discussed ahead of him when it came to the topic of Real Madrid’s best ever player.
“They always put me behind Di Stefano and I don’t know what more I have to do,” he is believed to have said.
In the end, the relationship with Real Madrid reached a point where he decided to leave and to move on, joining Juventus and beginning a new adventure in Italy.
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