A leaked email between Juventus directors appears to suggest that Cristiano Ronaldo is owed £17million by the Italian club.
Ronaldo has called his lawyers to demand the outstanding payment from the club, which had never been publicly declared. The demand comes after the Portuguese superstar ended his relationship with Manchester United by mutual consent earlier this month, following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
The email addressed to Andrea Agnelli – the former Juve chairman who, alongside his entire board of directors, resigned last month – and the rest of the board, including Pavel Nedved, from director Vincenzo Ampolo has been published by Italian media, which appears to confirm the payment.
Earlier this week, Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Ronaldo has demanded Juve, whom he left for United in 2021, pay him an agreement that was struck during the Covid pandemic but which was not made public. Indeed, the deal was not reported on the stock market or the club's balance sheet.
Agnelli was the Italian club's chairman from 2010 until last week when he and his entire board announced their resignations following a Financial Accounts Probe ordered by the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office, which indicated signs of wrong accounting.
Details of an email from Juventus director Ampolo was sent to Agnelli, Nedved, Federico Cherubini and Cesare Gabasio on 23 September 2021 – less than a month after Ronaldo left the Italian club to return to United – have been published by Gazzetta dello Sport and cited by Football Italia.
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Ampolo's email read: "AA [Andrea Agnelli] is asking for information on CR7's situation. He [Agnelli] highlights that he left without worrying about finalising his position on the salary manoeuvre. He suggests not to chase him but to wait for him to raise the matter if interested. FC [Federico Cherubini] reports that no one has solicited CR7 on this issue.
"The pending fee is €19m. The documents signed by the players last season provide that if a player is not registered for J [Juventus] on September 5, 2021, the amount due to the player is paid as an incentive to leave."
After winning nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juve have finished fourth in the past few campaigns. They have not made it past the round of 16 in the last three editions of the Champions League. They are currently third in the Italian top flight, behind Napoli and AC Milan and were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages in October.
