FIAT to sponsor Ronaldo move?

By Football Italia staff

Reports in Portugal insist Cristiano Ronaldo is very close to Juventus, with FIAT to become a sponsor to ease the burden of his wages.

There was a meeting between Real Madrid and his agent Jorge Mendes last night to try and resolve the situation, with the Portuguese superstar heavily linked with a shock move to Turin.

Now Record is reporting that it’s only a matter of hours before the Bianconeri officially make a €100m offer to sign CR7.

That is likely to be accepted, as there is an agreement that he can leave for that price rather than his €1bn release clause as long as it’s not to “a direct rival”.

Indeed, that is reported to be the source of Ronaldo’s unhappiness, as he took that as a sign that Madrid don’t want him.

According to Record, FIAT will sign a lucrative sponsorship deal with Ronaldo, which will help pay his €30m per season wages.

Juventus cannot afford to pay that without risking falling foul of Financial Fair Play, as it’s four times what current top earner Gonzalo Higuain earns.

However, if holding company Exor were to use a FIAT sponsorship to ensure that Ronaldo’s salary reaches €30m, without putting the entire burden on the club, then they could circumvent FFP.

It was previously reported that Adidas could sponsor the move, but that was always unlikely as CR7 has a 'lifetime' contract with Nike worth $1bn.

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