Ronaldo exits Real Madrid for Juventus
● Mali midfielder eager to seize chance at Ibrox as Nigerian striker Sadiq also secures season-long move
Juventus have signed Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo in a sensational deal totalling £99.2million from Real Madrid.
The 33-year-old has agreed a four-year contract with the seri ea champions having revealed he wanted to open a new chapter in his life.
A letter from Ronaldo – who scored a record 451 goals in nine years at the Bernabeu – was posted on Real Madrid’s website in which he pleaded with fans to understand his decision.
He said: “These years at Real Madrid and in this city of Madrid have been possibly the happiest of my life.
“I only have feelings of enormous gratitude for this club, for these fans and for this city.icanonlyt hank all of them for the love and affection I have received.
“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. I feel that way and I ask everyone, and especially our followers, to please understand me.”
Juventus revealed in a club statement that they would pay €100m (£88.52m) to Madrid over two financial years and “additional costs” of €12m (£10.6m).
Real expressed their gratitude to a player who helped the club to four Champions
Lassana Coulibaly may have joined Rangers on a temporary transfer but he has revealed his ambition to make a lasting impression at Ibrox.
The 22-year-old Mali international midfielder yesterday completed his season-long loan move to Rangers from French Ligue 1 club Angers, subject to international clearance. The club also announced the capture of Nigerian striker Umar Sadiq on a season-long loan, with the 21-year-old Roma player becoming Steven Gerrard’s ninth signing of the summer.
Coulibaly has played in the French top flight for the past three seasons, making a £1.8 million move to Angers from Corsican outfit Bastia last summer.
He is under contract at Angers until 2021 but his prospects of regular first-team football there in the coming season were diminished by their recent capture of Vincent Pajot from St Etienne.
Coulibaly is now determined to embrace the opportunity offered to him by Rangers to thrive in a new environment over the coming 12 months.
“I want to do something here and, in years to come, the fans will talk about it,” said Coulibaly.
“I think playing for a big team [like Rangers] is nice as everyone wants to play for the big teams.
“I am a midfielder and I am physically strong. I like to try and go and win the ball back for my team.”
As is becoming the mantra for any new signing at Rangers this summer, Coulibaly pointed to the influence of manager Gerrard in persuading him to make the move to Glasgow.
“I am very happy to be here,” he told Rangers TV. “When my agent told me Steven Gerrard was the manager, I said ‘no problem’ and I am happy to come and join this team.
“The manager can help me to develop my football and he is someone who I watched when he was at Liverpool.
“I spoke to him when I was [back home] in Mali and he asked me if I wanted to join his team, and I said yes, although I was worried it wasn’t actually Gerrard [on the phone]!
“Rangers are a good team and I knew the name before Gerrard came in. I know the team are in the Europa League and I know there is a big rivalry with Celtic.”
Fellow new signing Sadiq
had an impressive loan spell at NAC Breda in the Dutch Eredivisie last season, where he found the net five times in 12 appearances.
The Nigerian has also had loan spells with Bologna and Torino and won an Olympic bronze medal with his country in Rio 2016, scoring four times during the tournament.
He has scored twice in six Serie A appearances for his parent club.
Rangers have until midnight tonight to register both Coulibaly and Sadiq for their squad for the Europa League first qualifying round tie against Macedonian side Shkupi. The first leg takes place at Ibrox tomorrow night with the return fixture in Skopje next Tuesday.
“When my agent told me Steven Gerrard was the manager, I said ‘no problem’ and I am happy to join this team” LASSANA COULIBALY