Cristiano Ronaldo demands €20m from Juventus

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo is demanding a payment of nearly €20 million from former employers Juventus stemming from the secret agreements the club allegedly made at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of Juventus' board, including chairman Andrea Agnelli and vice-chairman Pavel Nedved, resigned recently with Italian prosecutors investigating the club for financial mismanagement and false accounting.

Juve are said to have made payments "off the books", paying four months' worth of salaries but declaring just one - tantamount to tax fraud.

READ: Juventus scandal: Resignations, Ronaldo and relegation?

Except Ronaldo claims not to have been paid at all.

"Ronaldo is used to playing for himself, achieving his goal of scoring," write Gazzetta Dello Sport. "But now his aim isn't to score goals but €19.9, which, according to the Portuguese, are still owed to him for agreements previously made with Juventus."

Ronaldo has reportedly hired a legal team to extract the nearly €20m he feels he is owed by Italy's record champions.

Ronaldo's has a net worth of around €475m and remains one of the most marketable athletes in the word.

READ: The biggest clue yet Ronaldo's returning to Sporting?

Ronaldo in limbo

The 37-year-old - who scored 101 goals in 134 games for Juve between 2018 and 2021 - is currently out of contract having been released by Manchester United on the eve of the World Cup after giving an explosive interview to Piers Morgan.

Ronaldo criticised the Glazer family ownership, United manager Erik ten Hag and more. Neither the Juventus not Man Utd issues seem to have put off potential suitors, however.

Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr have reportedly offered Ronaldo a total package worth €500m for him to see out his career there, although he is yet to commit on his next career step.

The Champions League's record scorer with 140 goals, Ronaldo would like to extend his tally in that competition, but first club Sporting Lisbon appear to be the only European club willing to give him that potential platform.