Director Fabio Paratici confirms Cristiano Ronaldo offered himself to Juventus via agent Jorge Mendes during Joao Cancelo talks.
Mendes had already given a similar version of events this week, noting the original idea came from the Ballon d’Or winner in January.
“When we met with Mendes to discuss Cancelo, that is where the whole thing began,” director of sport Paratici told Sky Sport Italia.
Director Fabio Paratici confirms Cristiano Ronaldo offered himself to Juventus via agent Jorge Mendes during Joao Cancelo talks.
Mendes had already given a similar version of events this week, noting the original idea came from the Ballon d’Or winner in January.
“When we met with Mendes to discuss Cancelo, that is where the whole thing began,” director of sport Paratici told Sky Sport Italia.
“Mendes said to me: ‘You won’t believe this, but Cristiano wants to come to Juve.’
“I replied that I believed it, but it seemed difficult to make everything come together and work.”
The Bianconeri eventually reached an agreement worth over €100m to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Turin and nobody was happier than Paratici’s son.
“The greatest players help kids to dream. My son wanted Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey, so when I went to see a Portugal game, I bought it and he wore it all the time.
“Every year he’d ask me: ‘Daddy, why don’t we buy Cristiano Ronaldo?’ Because it’s impossible. Then when it happened, he said: ‘Daddy, you told me it was impossible!’ I had no answer.”