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What's the story?
Sporting Lisbon are reportedly considering the act of honouring their former player Cristiano Ronaldo by renaming the Jose Alvalade stadium after him.
In case you didn't know...
Ronaldo came through Sporting's youth system and spent six years, from 1998 to 2003, with the club. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner joined the Portuguese outfit as a 14-year-old and made 31 first team appearances for the side in the 2002-03 season.
The forward then famously joined Manchester United where he thrived under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, winning a series of titles with the English giants. He later joined La Liga outfit Real Madrid, where he established himself as a legend, before moving to Serie A champions Juventus last summer.
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The 34-year-old has played a pivotal role in Juventus' season, having netted 24 goals in all competitions for the club so far, which includes the phenomenal hat-trick he scored to single-handedly fire the Italians to the quarter-final stages of the Champions League.
The heart of the matter
A report in Portuguese publication O Jogo has now claimed that the Estadio Jose Alvalade, which was built in 2003, could be renamed after Ronaldo despite the fact that the forward has never played a competitive match in the stadium.
Sporting reportedly wants to keep a close association with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner and are considering renaming the stadium to 'Estadio Jose Alvalade CR7'.
The club believes the association with Ronaldo's name could also help increase their marketibility in Asia and the Middle East.
What's next?
A decision has not yet been taken as the matter is reportedly in the 'embryonic stage', with many options still left to consider.
Ronaldo, who found the net in the first leg of the Old Lady's Champions League quarter-final fixture against Ajax, will return to action against the Dutch giants on April 16. Meanwhile, Juventus are scheduled to face SPAL in the Serie A on Saturday.
