Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Juventus: What you need to know about his future

Juventus left forward Cristiano Ronaldo is having his best season with the Bianconeri since joining before the start of the 2018-2019 season.

After scoring 21 goals in his first season in Turin, Ronaldo found the back of the net 31 times in the 2019-2020 campaign. And while Juve are further behind in the league table in 2020-2021 than in his previous two seasons, Ronaldo already has 23 goals in the same number of Serie A appearances.

Despite Ronaldo’s success with Juve and his importance to the team, there have been rumblings regarding his future in Turin. After the elimination to Porto in the Champions League, which was Juve’s second straight Round of 16 exit, some experts believe the team would be better off moving on in their rebuild without Ronaldo.

There is a lot of talk of Ronaldo potentially reuniting with Real Madrid this summer, and no club legend dares to deny them. Even Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has left the door open for a move.

How feasible is it for Ronaldo to leave? What is his current situation with Juve? Let’s break it all down below.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s current contract with Juventus lasts one more year

When Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in the summer 2018 transfer window, he signed a four-year contract with the Bianconeri. That contract will run out at the end of the 2021-2022 season, so we are coming up on Ronaldo’s final year of his deal. So if Juve were to try and sell the superstar, they probably wouldn’t get much money in return on a transfer.

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There have been rumors of Juventus trying to get Ronaldo to sign an extension. Currently, Ronaldo makes about 31 million euros per year. He is by far the highest-paid player on Juve, as nobody else even makes 10 million euros in each season. His salary is often pointed out as a reason for Juve struggling to make upgrades elsewhere, but they’ve had a lot of other high salaries over the years given to players who aren’t even making a fraction of Ronaldo’s contributions.

Since Ronaldo is Juve’s top player and is potentially attracting interest from Los Blancos, you’d think the Bianconeri would want to sign him to an extension quickly in order to extinguish the rumors. But it doesn’t sound like Juve are planning to do this.

It may be better that way. Both Juve and Ronaldo may prefer to take things year-by-year than rather lock themselves into anything. They don’t need to do anything drastic. Ronaldo seems to be enjoying his time in Turin, and Juve, naturally, enjoy having a 30-goal-per-season forward with Ronaldo’s economic “drawing power”.

Could Cristiano Ronaldo actually leave Juventus this summer?

Now that we’ve taken care of the contract details, let’s look at the burning question surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo right now. Everyone wants to know how much of a chance there is of Ronaldo leaving this summer, and nostalgic Real Madrid fans probably want to know the most.

The answer is unknown, because it’s all up to Ronaldo. And nobody knows what Ronaldo is thinking other than the man himself. There are journalists close to Ronaldo who can give us clues, and Manu Sainz of AS recently reported that the forward does indeed want to head back to Madrid, where he is missed on the pitch.

Remember, Ronaldo is still under contract at Juventus, and his 31 million euro salary could be a roadblock for Real, especially since they have their eyes on “star of the future” like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. And for his part, Fabio Paratici has made it clear that Ronaldo is a key part of the club’s future direction, which is 100 percent understandable.

Again, it’s up to Ronaldo and his goals. He can honor his contract and try out Juventus for one more year, as the club is about to make some noise this summer. Maybe a Robin Gosens or a Manuel Locatelli will give Juve the boost they need to compete in the Champions League. There are reasons for Ronaldo to stay, including Serie A’s lower tax rate. But there are also compelling reasons for him to want to leave, particularly if he misses Madrid or sees them as a better opportunity to win one last Champions League before his career winds down.

Whatever the case, Ronaldo is in control, but Juve have the advantage of currently holding Ronaldo under contract for one more season. Ronaldo would leave for free without an extension, but Juve might rather have one more year of Ronaldo than a measly transfer fee from Real in 2021. Of course, if Ronaldo truly wants out, which we almost certainly won’t find out until after the season, then there’s really nothing Juve can do. He has the leverage as a global superstar.