Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo has told him he "no longer has any intention" of playing for the Italian club in the latest twist of a transfer saga that could see the Portuguese superstar move to Manchester City.
Reports emerged earlier on Friday claiming Ronaldo had left Juve's Continassa training centre before the start of Friday's session, with Sky Sports claiming the Portuguese forward arrived in the morning to say goodbye to his teammates before leaving at around 10.45am local time.
Allegri has now confirmed that Ronaldo appears set for the exit after three years in Turin.
"Yesterday Ronaldo told me that he no longer has any intention to play for Juventus, for this reason he will not be picked tomorrow," Allegri told reporters ahead of Juve's Serie A match against Empoli on Saturday.
"Things change, it's a law of life. Juventus remains, which is the most important thing. He is to be thanked for what he has done, also as an example amongst the youngsters. But as I said, we must go on."
"Omar Sivori, Michel Platini, Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane, Gianluigi Buffon, some great champions and even better managers (have left). It's one of the laws of life. But Juventus will always be here.
"Cristiano did a lot for this club, he's a great champion, I wish him all the luck in the world wherever he will play. He gave a great contribution. For the season that I trained him he led by example for the lads, so he is only to be thanked for what he did for Juventus."
Ronaldo, who was signed by Juventus in 2018 for €100 million ($117.6m) from Real Madrid in the hope of leading them to an elusive Champions League title, will leave the Italian club with 101 goals, two league titles and a Coppa Italia trophy to his name.
Ronaldo spent six seasons with Manchester United from 2003-2009 where he won eight major trophies plus the Ballon d'Or in 2008 before sealing a then world record £80m ($109.8m) move to Real Madrid.
The Portugal forward is Real's all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions and won four Champions League trophies and two LaLiga titles with the Spanish club.
During the European Championship in June, Ronaldo joined Iran's Ali Daei as the all-time top scorer in international soccer by reaching 109 goals and he could make the record his own during the World Cup qualifiers in September.
Ronaldo would join a City team stacked with talent but lacking a consistent marksman after the club's all-time top scorer Sergio Aguero left at the end of the 2020-21 season to join Barcelona.
English champions City this week failed in their bid to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, with the England captain stating he was staying at the north London club.
At United, Ronaldo scored 118 goals and won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2007-08 season, the year he helped the Old Trafford club claim their last Champions League title.
