Juventus: Just stop with the Cristiano Ronaldo, PSG talk already

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked to Real Madrid and PSG again, but there’s no reason to buy these rumors, especially not a move to the latter.

Cristiano Ronaldo has started the 2020-2021 season in vintage form for Juventus. The Portuguese superstar has scored six goals with one assist in just 290 minutes of Serie A play, and it seems like he keeps getting better and better in this league with each year.

Although Ronaldo seems happy in Turin, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from linking him with a move back to Real Madrid and even Manchester United, and he’s even been linked to PSG again.

None of these rumors make any sense, but the ones linking to Ronaldo to PSG have been the most persistent in 2020. Either he’s getting swapped for Neymar or being used as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe. Often, it seems like a new rumor pops up each week. How about the one stating Juventus will use Ronaldo to acquire Mbappe in a swap deal?

Reports in Italy, such as from Tuttosport, make it clear that neither Ronaldo nor the Bianconeri have any intention of parting ways at the end of the 2020-2021 season.

Maybe things change in the future and Ronaldo wants a new challenge, believing he can’t win another Champions League in Turin. Or maybe the Old Lady decide Ronaldo’s wages really are too hefty and that they need to go ahead with a new rebuild.

But I don’t see it happening. Ronaldo is scoring boatloads of goals in Serie A, and he is the clear goal-scoring focus in Turin. That means in terms of pursuing individual records, Ronaldo is in a great position to add to his impressive statistics.

Ronaldo cares more about team success than individual success, because individual success will always happen for him. Juventus did not get as far as PSG did in last year’s Champions League, but there is reason for Ronaldo to keep believing in the project. They made some important signings this summer in Alvaro Morata, Weston McKennie, and Federico Chiesa on loan. All three of those deals could become permanent. Andrea Pirlo is an unknown commodity as a manager, but he has a vision and ambition.

Would Ronaldo co-exist with the other attacking talent at PSG? It would be wonderful to imagine Mbappe, Neymar, and Ronaldo playing together from a neutral’s perspective, but it seems impossible for PSG to have all three. PSG could win another Champions League with Ronaldo and Neymar as the superstars in front of a strong midfield and defense, but is that the challenge Ronaldo wants?

Ronaldo is an ambitious footballer who wants to have Champions League success wherever he goes. He won the Champions League at Manchester United and Real Madrid, so he wants to do the same at Juventus. Anything else would seemingly be unfinished business for a player of his caliber, and it would be quite the achievement for him to finally bring a Champions League trophy to Turin and the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, who is still playing in pursuit of this elusive trophy.

The Mbappe/Ronaldo swap idea seems like fiction and doesn’t seem like the kind of deal PSG would take without Juve having to commit additional money to the deal. Juve and Ronaldo are on a mission to win a Champions League trophy in the next two seasons, and I don’t see either party giving up on this goal so quickly. Everyone knows it’s a process.