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Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus: Real Madrid issued huge transfer warning over superstar
CRISTIANO RONALDO’s relentless drive and determination will see him continue to be among the best in Europe for “another four or five years”.
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That is the claim of former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon, who has warned the La Liga club not to sell Ronaldo to Juventus.
The 33-year-old is seemingly on the verge of leaving the Bernabeu with an £88million move to Serie A in the frame.
Ronaldo’s relationship with Madrid president Florentino Perez is thought to have broken down over a wage dispute which has left the superstar feeling under-appreciated.
And Calderon insists Real cannot afford to let a player of Ronaldo’s proven pedigree go even for such a high fee at his age.
Across his nine-year spell in the Spanish capital, Ronaldo has won 15 trophies including four Champions League titles in the last five years and is Real’s all-time top scorer with 450 goals.
Cristiano is irreplaceable and cannot be compared to anyone in football.
The Portuguese ace continued to hit extraordinary numbers last term with 44 goals in as many games despite just four goals in his first 14 La Liga appearances of the season.
And while it could be assumed Ronaldo’s numbers will eventually decline as he continues to enter the twilight of his career, Calderon - the man who oversaw the player’s arrival in 2009 - believes otherwise.
“Cristiano is irreplaceable and cannot be compared to anyone in football today,” he told TuttoMercatoWeb.
“Because his talent, his technique and his physical conditions are joined by the permanent desire to always overcome the unreachable.
“In my long life in the world of football I met very few players who, despite their endless prizes, maintain the ambition and obsession to always train to the maximum to continue to be the best, to overcome each day, to find new goals and break new records.
“All this will allow Ronaldo to move forward at the same level he has shown up until today for at least another four or five years.”