Why Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s statement confirming the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last night made clear at the La Liga giant had “accepted the player’s wish to leave” — but avoided revealing the real reasons why they had decided now was a good time to let the current world’s best player leave.

“These years at Real Madrid and in this city of Madrid have been possibly the happiest of my life,” Ronaldo said in an open letter to fans.

“However, I believe that the time has come to open a new stage in my life and that is why I have asked the club to accept transferring me.”

Juventus revealed in a club statement that they would pay €100m to Madrid over two financial years and “additional costs” of €12m.

After nine seasons, 450 goals and a host of trophies including three Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles, as well as individual awards including four Ballons D’Or, Real expressed their gratitude to the Portuguese superstar.

“Today, Real Madrid wants to express its gratitude to a player who has proved to be the best in the world and who has marked one of the brightest times in the history of our club and world football.

“Beyond the conquered titles, the trophies achieved, and the triumphs achieved on the playing fields during these nine years, Cristiano Ronaldo has been an example of dedication, work, responsibility, talent, and improvement.

“For Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo will always be one of its great symbols and a unique reference for the next generations. Real Madrid will always be your home.”

In truth, however, Ronaldo departs as his relationship with Real chief Florentino Perez has broken down completely.

The 81,000 seater Estadio Santiago Bernabeu has never really been big enough to house both the supersize egos of Ronaldo and Florentino — and although they managed to work together for what was a down and then up decade, the stresses and strains in their relationship have been evident from the start.

Ramon Calderon, Perez’s predecessor as Madrid president, never misses an opportunity to remind everyone that he put in place the then world record £80m (€90.4m) deal which brought the former Manchester United star to the Bernabeu back in 2009.

This means Ronaldo has never been a ‘Perez player’, unlike well protected fellow galacticos Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

The first big bust-up between the pair came all the way back in 2012, when Ronaldo deliberately did not celebrate scoring in a La Liga game against Granada and told reporters afterwards that he was “sad” and the president knew why.

That was an escalation of Ronaldo and agent Jorge Mendes feeling they were well due a big pay-rise at this point.

The following weeks then brought a widely reported face to face exchange during which the construction magnate bluntly said he would happily sell Ronaldo if he could raise enough money to bring Lionel Messi to Madrid as an upgrade.

That falling-out was eventually patched up by a new contract eventually signed 12 months later.

There was another payrise agreed in November 2016 — at which point Ronaldo said he could see himself playing at Madrid until he turned 40.

However it did not take long for more bitterness to seep into the most important relationship at the club. Once the 2016/17 season had ended with another Champions League victory, Ronaldo’s camp let it be known that he was finished at Madrid, with the revelation of their client facing charges of a €14.7m tax fraud also adding to his discontent.

Ronaldo using his post-match interview following last May’s UCL victory over Liverpool to say in the past tense that “it had been nice being a Real Madrid player” was no surprise.

His upset at Perez for not matching the significantly higher salaries now earned by Messi at Barcelona and Neymar at Paris Saint Germain was already common knowledge around the Bernabeu.

Another big blow in the relationship came at last December’s 2017 Ballon D’Or ceremony.

That should have been Ronaldo’s night, as he surpassed Messi by taking a fifth trophy.

But Perez changed the headlines by talking about how Neymar could only be recognised as the world’s best individual if he left PSG for the Bernabeu.

For his part, Perez feels no players should ever be bigger than the club, especially not Real Madrid.

He recalls from his own childhood how predecessor Santiago Bernabeu coldly moved out Alfredo Di Stefano soon after Di Stefano delivered five consecutive European Cups in the 1950s.

Throughout 2017/18, Zinedine Zidane played a really important role in keeping the peace. As a former Ballon D’Or winner himself, Zidane had the heft to convince Ronaldo to concentrate on his football until the end of the season.

The Frenchman’s surprise exit then removed one of the few who can reason with Perez. There has been no suggestion that new coach Julen Lopetegui has even tried to phone Ronaldo to convince him to stay.

Then Juventus emerged as a club who Ronaldo felt had enough status to make leaving not feel like too much of a step down.

And Madrid’s ultimate boss facilitated the move by deliberately dropping their asking fee from €1bn to around €100m — making a calculated decision that the club’s all-time record scorer was no longer worth the money, or the hassle.

RONALDO’S REAL MADRID RECORD

450: Ronaldo's Real Madrid-record goal tally, in 438 games.

17: His record goal tally for a Champions League season, in 2013-14.

105: Total Champions League goals for the club, which also included 16 in 2015-16 and 15 in the most recent campaign.

4: Champions League titles with Real, including the last three in succession.

311: Goals in La Liga.

2: La Liga titles, in 2011-12 and 2016-17.

16: Major trophies with the club, also including two domestic cups, two domestic and three European Super Cups and three Club World Cups.

4: Ballon d'Or awards won with Real, making five in total after he was first recognised as the world's best player in 2008 when he was with Manchester United.

44: Hat-tricks for Madrid including a club-record 34 in La Liga. Two came last season, against Girona and Real Sociedad in La Liga.

8: The Girona game marked the eighth time he had scored four or more goals in a Real match. That included five-goal league hauls against Granada in 2014-15 and Espanyol the following season.

8: His first three goals in that 9-1 win over Granada came in eight minutes, equalling the club record for the quickest ever hat-trick.

61: His most prolific season for Real came in 2014-15 with 61 goals in all competitions, including 48 in the league. It was the second time he hit 60 for a season.