Lopetegui on Ronaldo’s transfer: ‘I never spoke with him’

Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui on Ronaldo’s transfer: ‘He showed interest in leaving.’

Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid last summer in a stunning 100 million pounds deal for Juventus. The Portuguese star has been one of the most decorated players of Real Madrid, and it came as a shock to the fans, who were still recovering from the sudden resignation of Zinedine Zidane earlier in the season.

Real Madrid’s new manager, Julen Lopetegui, has opened up on Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to the Italian giants. Lopetegui was announced as the Real Madrid manager after the departure of Zidane.

His decision to accept Real Madrid’s offer, however, resulted in him facing the sack from the Spanish national football team two-days prior to their first World Cup match in Russia.

He insisted that he had no say in Ronaldo’s transfer as the decision to leave had been mutually agreed before his arrival.

“I never spoke with him,” Lopetegui said, as quoted by AS.

“When I got here he had shown interest in leaving, and the club decided to help him in reaching that goal. Hence, all I had to do was to respect what the club and the player had agreed,” he said.

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Real Madrid have had a quiet transfer summer in terms of arrival. They received a boost towards the end of the transfer window, however, with the signing of Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea. Alvaro Odriozola was one of the main arrivals at the club, and ‘Los Blancos’ also Vinicius Junior from Brazilian club Flamengo.

Lopetegui has led the Spanish giants to a solid start in La Liga, after a shock 4-2 loss in the UEFA Super Cup against fellow city rivals Atletico Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, is yet to open his goal-scoring account at Juventus in the three games he has played so far.