The ‘secret’ agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo worth nearly €20m is at the centre of the investigation into Juventus financial irregularities and his Manchester United exit further complicated matters.
The club is under investigation from the Turin public prosecutor, the FIGC and UEFA over alleged financial irregularities, including inflated transfer fees to provide capital gains and especially paying players under the table to shrink official costs.
This comes down to an agreement with the squad during the first wave of the COVID pandemic in 2020 when football was in lockdown, as they agreed to forego four months of wages to help the club through this difficult period.
Prosecutors argue that in reality, the players gave up just one month and were paid the other four months off the books or shrouded in bonuses.
This includes the so-called ‘Carta Ronaldo’, a secret legal agreement confirming Juventus still owe the player circa €20m in outstanding wages even after he left for Manchester United in 2021.
The paperwork has never actually been found, but prosecutors believe they have reconstructed the details from various other documents and wiretapped phone calls.
President Andrea Agnelli was taped in a conversation with CEO Maurizio Arrivabene discussing the negotiations to sell Ronaldo to Manchester United.
“We evaluated all the numbers, especially because there are the outstanding wages matured during COVID, we are defining the mechanism for our counter-offer to United. We could leave the guaranteed amount and increase the bonus part, considering the outstanding salary.
“We tried in every way with Jorge (Mendes), but can’t touch that salary.”
Now Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly asked his lawyers to request the paperwork from the investigation to follow the progress of that outstanding sum himself, but so far it has been rejected.
Prosecutors are confident Ronaldo’s lawyers have a copy of the secret agreement, but he is not yet collaborating with them.
If Manchester United did have to pay Ronaldo part of the outstanding Juventus salary in the form of bonuses, then that might’ve been ruined by his sudden exit from Old Trafford last month, when he terminated the contract by mutual consent.
Meanwhile, another player who left – Paulo Dybala for Roma as a free agent – is also reportedly owed circa €3m in those outstanding wages.
CALMAAA!!!
Forget about Dybala and even Boumsong who is still probably missing $150. The only amounts that should be owed and given as a gesture of goodwill are for the fans who put up with coma calcio for at least 6 years as well as this new Sopranos soap opera or Peaky Blinders.
I meant sneaky blinders. Got to get it right with the under the counter bike shed club of global sports and Lehmann brothers accounting.