Cristiano Ronaldo will begin training with Juventus today as the Italian press hail ‘the age of the martian’ following his £100million transfer from Real Madrid.
The 33-year-old earned a post-World Cup break and from today will train at Juventus’ new training centre in Continassa, with the likes of Paulo Dybala also joining up with the squad.
Ronaldo has been enjoying some down time since guiding Portugal to the round of 16 at the World Cup finals in Russia.
Having not joined Juventus on their United States tour, the 33-year-old instead made his annual CR7 brand tour of China with Nike.
Ronaldo then hooked up with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez and took to Instagram to post a photo of them both posing outside their apartment, accompanied by the caption: ‘Holidays with Love!’
On the back of this, the Portuguese superstar won’t be playing in any of Juventus’ upcoming pre-season friendly matches.
They include a clash against his former side Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup on August 4, meaning he will avoid an early reunion with his former club.
A winner of the Ballon d’Or on five occasions, he left Real Madrid after a nine-year spell with the Spanish giants in which he scored 451 goals and won four Champions League titles.
He insisted that seven-time defending Serie A champions Juventus were the only ones to make an offer for him this summer.
His absence now leaves a glaring hole in the Real Madrid side. Without him, they could be lacking a goalscorer and free-kick taker as they look to usurp rivals Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title.
Ronaldo is set to make his highly-anticipated debut for the Serie A giants against Chievo on the weekend of August 18-19.
He will want to make an immediate impression on manager Massimiliano Allegri and his new team-mates.
His first domestic game at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium could come against Lazio, who are the first club to visit Turin next season.
Source:AFP
