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Cristiano Ronaldo and the English club Manchester City are close to reaching a deal that would bring Ronaldo to the team, according to a report from ESPN.
The 36-year old Ronaldo, who currently plays for the Italian club Juventus FC
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has been rumored to be leaving the team for months, and that move could soon happen.
If a deal were to be agreed upon, it would need to be completed by the summer transfer window deadline of August 31.
A transfer in soccer occurs when two clubs agree to move a player from one to another. If the player is under contract, the club trying to secure his rights are usually expected to pay compensation to the other club, also known as a transfer fee.
A large portion of the transfer fee goes to a team’s owner, but a player, as well as others, can get a portion of the fee as well. Specific transfer fees have not yet been agreed upon for Ronaldo, according to ESPN’s report.
Three years ago, when Ronaldo went to play for Juventus, the club paid a $117 million transfer fee. And last year, he made $70 million, according to Forbes.
The publicly traded Juventus is up 1.18% on Thursday. Juventus’s stock got a boost after news of Ronaldo transferring to the club in 2018, but most of those gains have dissipated since then. Juventus is owned by the Agnellis, a dynastic Italian family who founded Fiat Motor Company.
Ronaldo posted on his Instagram last week that any transfer talk and rumors about him leaving Juventus were “disrespectful.”
Ronaldo is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, an award for best soccer player in the world. From 2003-2009, Ronaldo played for Manchester City’s biggest rival Manchester United
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The possible move for Ronaldo comes as Lionel Messi recently transferred from Spain’s Barcelona FC to France soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Brazilian soccer star Neymar switched teams in 2017 for a record-setting transfer fee of $262 million. Ronaldo’s transfer fee will likely be less than Neymar’s despite Ronaldo’s more accomplished career, because Neymar is a younger player.
Cristiano Ronaldo has earned at least $1 billion during his playing career.
