New Barcelona president Joan Laporta is cooking up a plan to unite Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou, according to reports.
The extraordinary story comes after months of speculation that the Portugal star could leave Turin after a disappointing season that resulted in a fourth-place Serie A finish.
Spanish outlet AS writes that Messi is close to renewing his contract at Barcelona and Laporta is now dreaming of an astonishing move for Real Madrid legend Ronaldo.
Laporta, who was elected as president in March for a second time, could offer two players from Antoine Griezmann, Sergi Roberto and Philippe Coutinho in exchange for Ronaldo and use their freed-up wages to pay the 36-year-old’s salary.
This sounds more like something from a Football Manager save than real life.
Call us cynics, but it’s hard to imagine a world where Ronaldo pulls on red and blue stripes against Real.
The facts of the matter can’t be denied; Ronaldo has been linked with an exit from Juve after a disappointing season and a departure isn’t out of the question as he enters the final year of his deal.
But surely not to Barca. Not only is this the club that he spent nine years battling as he became Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer, but this is a club with reported debts of more than €1 billion.
Launching any sort of bid to sign Ronaldo and take on his €31 million per year net wages, while tying down Lionel Messi to new lucrative terms, seems farfetched to say the least.
But with Ronaldo about to enter the final year of his deal at Juve, this probably won’t be the last shock report of the summer.
