"I thought he’d stay" - Juventus director reveals truth behind Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United return 

Juventus director Maurizio Arrivabene has revealed that he was certain about Cristiano Ronaldo's stay at the Italian club before his surprise Manchester United move. Arrivabene said that the Portuguese international seemed motivated to play for the Bianconeri in the pre-season and thought he would stay for another year.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Italian giants in 2018 from Real Madrid, after winning three Champions League titles consecutively with the Spanish team.

The Portuguese star promised to replicate his Champions League domination in Turin and help Juventus win the prestigious title. He scored more than 100 goals playing for the Italian club, winning two Serie A titles and other domestic tournaments in three years.

Quizzed over Cristiano Ronaldo's shocking move to join Manchester United from Juventus, Arrivabene said:

“I saw a motivated Ronaldo on the first days of the pre-season. I thought he’d stay, but then he took a different decision and we know what happened.”

Ronaldo was unhappy with the team's overall performance and wanted the board to overhaul the squad and build up a formidable pack of players. This, however, could not happen due to the economic situation at the club which worsened after the pandemic.

Ronaldo was uncertain about the plans of the Juventus board and losing the 2020-21 Serie A title was the breaking point for him.

The Juventus director also touched upon the points over Paulo Dybala's contract extension, saying that they had reached an agreement but things changed. He added:

“True, we had reached an agreement, but things changed. Nothing is decided yet, let’s see what happens.”

He also shared about the future plans at the club and how they managed to bring Vlahovic in despite serious interest from other cash-rich clubs. Arrivabene said:

“We start a new chapter, we have a three-year plan where we need to balance sporting and economic results. We signed Vlahovic and Zakaria thinking about this and next season. There were movements of foreign clubs around Dusan and we thought that had we waited for the summer, we wouldn’t be as competitive as English and Spanish clubs.''

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After Manchester United's UCL exit, Cristiano Ronaldo switches his focus to Portugal's World Cup qualification

Cristiano Ronaldo is focused on helping his national team qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022 through the upcoming qualifiers. The ongoing season has been a difficult one for the Portuguese international.

However, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner will give his all in as this could potentially be his last World Cup campaign. Portugal have always qualified for the World Cup since the arrival of Ronaldo in the national team.