TuRin (AFP) - Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave Juventus, coach Massimiliano Allegri revealed on Friday, as rumors of an imminent move to Manchester City gather pace.
“Yesterday, speaking with Cristiano, he told me that he has no intention of staying at Juventus, for this reason he will not be picked tomorrow. This morning he didn’t train,” Allegri told reporters ahead of Juve’s Serie A match against Empoli on Saturday.
Premier League champions City have been widely linked with a move for five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo after missing out on England captain Harry Kane.
“I’m not disappointed in Ronaldo, he made his choice,” added Allegri. “In life, things change. Great players like Sivori, Platini, Del Piero, Zidane, Buffon have passed through Juventus -- it’s part of life.
“He was here three years, he made his contribution, he made himself available to Juventus and now he’s leaving. Life goes on.”
Earlier on Friday Juve had confirmed that Ronaldo would not train with his teammates, with Sky Sport Italia reporting that the superstar forward arrived at the club’s Continassa training centre in the morning to say goodbye to his teammates before leaving at around 10:45 am local time (0845 GMT).
On Thursday Sky claimed the Portugal captain had already cleaned out his locker in the dressing room despite Allegri and club director Pavel Nedved both insisting last weekend that he would remain in Turin.
Allegri even told reporters that Ronaldo had told him personally that he wanted to stay after Serie A’s top scorer last season started on the bench at Udinese on Sunday.
According to daily Gazzetta Dello Sport, a deal for superstar Ronaldo to go to City could be completed within the next 24 hours, with the summer transfer window set to close on Tuesday.
The fee, however, could be a problem with the Italians believed to be wanting in the region of 25 million euros ($29.4 million).