It was the transfer of last summer: Cristiano Ronaldo, who after nine successful years in the door at Real Madrid behind him dichttrok for a new adventure at Juventus. Paratici know that it is a great feat, but also reveals that the transition never would have come if Juve and Real are not met in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, last year.
“When we got the second leg in Madrid afwerkten, came Jorge Mendes, the agent of Cristiano, along with us. That happens more often in Champions League matches. I told him, full of admiration that Cristiano amazing goals (including a reference to the fantastic bicycle kick which the Portuguese extracted in the first leg at the Juventus Stadium, eds.). Then looked to Mendes to me and riposteerde: ‘You may not believe, but if Cristiano Real leave, then he wants only to Juventus. Keep that in mind, a possible transition is less far away than you think. We'll talk about that later.’ I thought he was there just uitflapte, but I began there to think about,” says Paratici.