Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri reportedly wanted Cristiano Ronaldo sold by the club during his tenure. The report in La Repubblica claims Allegri made his wish known to Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli.
Allegri managed Juventus from 2014 until his dismissal in 2019 and it was during the Italian's reign the Cristiano Ronaldo made a shock move to the club in 2018 after nine years at Real Madrid. The duo achieved moderate success in the Portuguese's first season at the club, winning Serie A and the Italian Super Cup, but failed to achieve success in Europe - coveted by the club - losing to Ajax in the quarterfinal of the Champions League.
The report claims that despite the accomplishments of Ronaldo at Juventus, Allegri still asked for the five-time Ballon Dor winner to be sold, claiming Ronaldo's presence at Juventus was greatly limiting the chances of young players of getting integrated into the first team due to lack of playing time.
However, Agnelli did not concur with Allegri. A series of other events, including this supposed conversation, led to Allegr'is dismissal by Juventus in 2019.
Juventus could look to sell Ronaldo in the summer
The report from La Repubblica has also claimed that Ronaldo's contract at Juventus, which runs till 2022 ,would cost the Turin outfit around €90 million in wages. The club have struggled in Serie A and suffered a shock exit from the Champions League against Portuguese giants Porto in the Round of 16..
Juventus could therefore look to move the 36-year-old Ronaldo on in the summer due to the financial impact of COVID-19 and look to develop the younger players in the side like Dejan Kulusevski, Federico Chiesa, and Weston McKinnie, among others.
Juventus beat Genoa 3-1 in their league encounter on Sunday with goals from Dejan Kulusevski, Alvaro Morata and Weston McKinnie handing the club their 18th Serie A win of the campaign. Cristiano Ronaldo put in a very lively performance but could not find the net and was visibly upset after the game with reports claiming the Portuguese punched the wall of the dressing room in frustration.
Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo has, however, downplayed the incident, saying that the ever-hungry Ronaldo was just upset he could not add to his 25 league goals and thus suffered a setback in the race for the Serie A golden boot.