Tag Archives: Cristiano Ronaldo

Transfernewz

Juventus plan £175 million bid for Liverpool star Mohamed Salah – report

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Italian champions Juventus are planning to make a £175 million bid to sign Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah this summer, according to a report. 

Salah is joint top scorer in the Premier League this season with 17 goals in 26 matches. He has also provided 7 assists this season. This follows his 32 goals last season for the Reds.

But Sky News Arabia is alleging that Juventus are lining up a £175 million summer bid for him, which has the backing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

In addition, Spanish news site Don Balon go on to say that there could be a vacancy in Juve’s forward line this summer if Paolo Dybala is sold. There have been rumours that Dybala could be on his way out – possibly to the Premier League – for some time, but there has yet to be anything concrete to back that up.

If – and it’s a big if – the deal were to go through, it would make Salah the second most expensive signing in history, behind Neymar’s £198 million deal to leave Barcelona for PSG.

However, Liverpool will not want to lose their talisman and would surely fight hard to keep him and offer new terms.

Don Balon add that Juventus are also looking at Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio, who would seem to be a more realistic target as he could be moved on as Los Blancos are expected to have a major rebuild of their playing staff this summer.

This could well be just speculation – Juventus have ambition but are also generally realistic with their transfer business, as they showed by securing Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey on a pre-contract earlier this week.

Football Factz

Jose Mourinho given jail sentence and massive fine for tax fraud in Spain

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Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has agreed to a one-year prison sentence in Spain for tax fraud while he was at Real Madrid.

However, Mourinho will not serve time behind bars – it will be exchanged for a fine of £160,160. In Spain, sentences of less than 2 years for first-time or non-violent offenders are rarely enforced.

Mourinho was accused of owing Spanish tax authorities €3.3 million, after he had created various business entities in the British Virgin Islands – a tax haven – and elsewhere to manage his image rights. The accusations date back to 2011/12, when he was manager of Real Madrid. As a result, money made from the deals was undeclared in his tax statements.

The Portuguese had agreed a deal with tax officials before the case came to court. His fine today will be added to a separate, earlier €2 million fine.

Mourinho is the latest in a string of high-profile football players and managers to have fallen foul of the Spanish tax authorities in recent years. Last month, Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo was given a suspended 23-month sentence and £16.6 million fine for offences relating to tax owing over image rights from 2010-14, while he was also at Real Madrid.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was also given a 21-month jail sentence for tax fraud in 2017. Again, it was changed to a fine by the authorities.

Other stars are also under investigation for their tax affairs, including Xabi Alonso, who denies any wrongdoing.

Football Factz

Cristiano Ronaldo given jail sentence and massive fine in deal with Spanish court over tax evasion charges

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Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has been given a 23-month jail sentence and fined £16.6 million over tax evasion charges in a deal with a Madrid court.

The deal was agreed in advance of Ronaldo turning up to court. In a hearing that lasted just a few minutes, Ronaldo accepted the deal offered by prosecutors.

In Spain, those convicted and sentenced to less than two years rarely go to jail. With the non-violent nature of the conviction, Ronaldo will likely spend his time on probation.

Ronaldo was accused of avoiding paying tax between 2010 and 2014, during his time at Real Madrid. The charges centred around image rights deals, which prosecutors said were funnelled through low-tax companies in other nations in a bid to avoid paying the required amount of tax.

Spanish news agency EFE reported that, as part of the deal with the court, Ronaldo acknowledged four incidents amounting to €5.7 million tax owed.

The allegations emerged in 2017 and Ronaldo’s lawyers said it was down to a misunderstanding of Spanish tax law, rather than a deliberate attempt to avoid paying tax. The deal was struck last year but had to be approved by Spanish tax authorities.

Ronaldo is the latest in a string of high-profile players in Spain to have fallen foul of the tax laws there. His great rival Lionel Messi also avoided serving time in jail for similar offences and ended up paying millions in fines.

 

Transfernewz

Juventus want to bring Paul Pogba back to Italy in January – but Manchester United don’t want to sell

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Italian champions Juventus will try and re-sign midfielder Paul Pogba in January, but Manchester United will refuse to sell him, according to reports.

It has long been rumoured that Juventus would like Pogba to return, and it fits with their attempts to build a side to win the Champions League. It has also been said that the French international wants to go back to Turin. The Daily Star has reported that come January, Juve will launch a bid for him to try and tempt United into selling.

They may have been emboldened by Pogba’s apparent rift with now ex-United manager Jose Mourinho. The pair’s relationship was said to have broken down after a series of public and private arguments, and Pogba had found himself out of United’s starting line-up in the past couple of matches, including the crunch meeting with Liverpool last weekend.

As United have just sacked Mourinho, the hope is that Pogba could rediscover his best form under a new manager. It had already been reported that United didn’t want to sell him in any case.

Pogba re-joined United in 2016 for the then-world record fee of £89 million. However, his second spell at Old Trafford has failed to live up to expectations. Despite that, if United were to even consider selling Pogba then Juventus would have to stump up something north of the £99 million they paid Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, given his age and length of contract with United.

Transfernewz

Paris St-Germain star Neymar is Real Madrid’s top summer target, report says

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Paris St-Germain striker Neymar is top of Real Madrid transfer target list for next summer – ahead of team-mate Kylian Mbappe according to reports in Spain.

Spanish news outlet AS is reporting that, while Madrid are keen on both strikers, Neymar will be the more gettable of the two, given Mbappe’s progress since he joined PSG.

Madrid are desperate to sign a marquee player having failed in the summer to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus in a £99 million deal.

Mbappe has established himself as the top dog in Paris, following his starring role in the France team that lifted the World Cup in Russia last summer and his domestic form. Meanwhile Neymar’s star has fallen slightly, thanks to a period on the sidelines through injury and his perceived antics on the pitch. In addition, rumours over his unhappiness in the French capital have never gone away.

That said, both strikers have begun the season in top form – both have scored 13 goals in all competitions.

The tipping point for PSG could come if they are sanctioned by UEFA for breaking Financial Fair Play rules and could be forced into selling one of their prized assets.

Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a world record £198 million fee in summer 2016, with Mbappe joining as well – initially on loan from Monaco before a £166 million move the following summer.

While other clubs may be interested in Neymar, it is thought he wants a move back to Spain – and he would be the number one at Real. If he returned to Barcelona – perhaps unlikely, but not out of the question – he would likely be in Lionel Messi’s shadow.

Neymar would not come cheap – PSG would look to at least recoup their investment in a player who is just reaching the peak years of his career.