Cristiano Ronaldo’s biographer claims he didn’t want to move this summer because “Juventus will never be Real Madrid”.
Guillem Balague, a Spanish journalist based in the UK, released a book about the Portuguese superstar in 2015, and an updated version is now on sale in Italy.
For the launch of the book he spoke to La Repubblica, and offered his take on this summer’s €100m transfer.
“Cristiano no longer felt loved by Real,” Balague opined.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s biographer claims he didn’t want to move this summer because “Juventus will never be Real Madrid”.
Guillem Balague, a Spanish journalist based in the UK, released a book about the Portuguese superstar in 2015, and an updated version is now on sale in Italy.
For the launch of the book he spoke to La Repubblica, and offered his take on this summer’s €100m transfer.
“Cristiano no longer felt loved by Real,” Balague opined.
“He didn’t just want more money, he wanted to be everything. I’m convinced that when he went to see Florentino Perez he expected a raise, not to be left to leave like that.
“Now he’ll have to lower expectations, but he’s already started to do it because Juventus will never be Real Madrid.”
Balague also offered a theory as to CR7’s motivations.
“I looked for the roots of his childhood, I spoke with the friends of his youth in Madeira. He was in a poor suburb where he grew up without the love of an alcoholic father, and I think that I understood that Ronaldo is still looking for that love he never received.
“He and [Leo] Messi are similar, their paths as children were similar, but the Argentine is smarter, more shrewd.
“Cristiano is more sincere, which means you also see his defects. Ronaldo seeks love but he doesn’t know how to be loved. He wants the team to serve him, whereas Messi serves the team.
“He had Alex Ferguson and then his agent, Jorge Mendes [as father figures], so I think that Cristiano is both the son and the father of many.
“Everyone in his house is a clan, and he takes care of his friends, sisters, mother, girlfriend, children and also his brother Hugo, who has had great problems with drug addiction.”
The journalist isn’t in that clan though, admitting that Ronaldo didn’t much care for his book.
“There’s a page in which I refer to something harsh he said about Messi,” Balague explained.
“Cristiano never forgave me, he decided I wasn’t one of ‘his own’. But I’m not a PR, I looked for the truth about a champion who I appreciate tremendously.
“I was there in Verona for the first match of the season. I met him, we’ve known each other for a lifetime, but he told me: ‘I’m not talking to you’.”