Ronaldo does not want to play again for Juventus: Allegri

Cristiano Ronaldo has decided he no longer wants to play for Juventus, coach Massimiliano Allegri revealed on Friday, as rumours of an imminent move to Manchester United gather pace.

“Yesterday Ronaldo told me that he no longer has any intention of playing for Juventus, for this reason he will not be picked tomorrow,” Allegri told reporters ahead of Juve’s Serie A match against Empoli on Saturday.

Premier League champions City had been widely linked with a move for five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo after missing out on England captain Harry Kane. But in recent turn of events, Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United are leading the race with City missing out.

Earlier on Friday Juve had confirmed that Ronaldo would not train with his teammates, with Sky Sport Italia reporting that the superstar forward arrived at the club’s Continassa training centre in the morning to say goodbye to his teammates before leaving at around 10:45 am local time.

On Thursday Sky had claimed the Portugal captain had already cleaned out his locker in the dressing room despite Allegri and club director Pavel Nedved both insisting last weekend that he would remain in Turin.

Allegri even told reporters that Ronaldo has told him personally that he wanted to stay.

Ronaldo, who has one year remaining on his contract, has also been linked with Paris Saint-Germain and a return to Real Madrid.

Last weekend, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted that he had received assurances from the Portugal star over his future.

“Let’s clarify this issue, Ronaldo told me that he’s staying,” Allegri said in response to numerous questions on Ronaldo’s form and mindset ahead of Sunday’s Serie A opener at Udinese.

“He has always trained well and has always been available. I’ve read rumours in the papers, but he’s never wanted to leave Juventus.”

Italy’s top scorer last season with 29 goals started the Udinese game on the bench.

Last week, Ronaldo himself rubbished reports of a move back to Real Madrid, calling them “disrespectful” and saying that stories of his departure were written with “nobody ever being concerned about trying to find out the actual truth”.

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for Manchester United early in his career before leaving for Madrid in 2009.

He joined Juve in 2018 after scoring a remarkable 450 goals in 438 matches in a glittering nine-year spell at the Bernabeu that also included four Champions League triumphs.

At Juventus, his hopes of winning another Champions League have been thwarted, with the club failing to get beyond the quarter-finals during his time in Turin.