In what has become a seismic football transfer, Cristiano Ronaldo decided to terminate his goal-scoring services at Real Madrid, taking his talents to Turin, Italy, to play for Juventus instead.
(Sorry, Manchester United fans.)
The 33-year-old had a great tenure in Madrid, netting 450 goals over nine seasons. Juventus have gained one of football’s greatest asset, even though the Portuguese is on the wrong side of 30. His performance every season is consistent and he arguably has the ability to fit into any team.
Since his senior career began in Lisbon in 2002, Ronaldo has scored a combined 573 goals across all competitions with Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
At Madrid, Ronaldo came into his own. He leaves the club as their most prolific goal-scorer in history. His dominance is as incredible as it was consistent. For eight of his nine seasons, he was the top scorer for Real and outscored the rest of the league for three seasons.
In the La Liga, his numbers were bettered on five occasions by his perennial rival, Lionel Messi. Both have had nearly parallel careers.
Since he started playing in La Liga, Ronaldo averages 50 goals a season across all competitions, slightly less than Messi over the same period. Their peak seasons seem to be parallel to each other with one trying to knock the other off their pedestal.
Whatever awaits Ronaldo in Turin, don’t expect a goal-scoring drought. He’s already proven to be a proven goal scorer in La Liga and the Premier League. It’s unlikely that will change in Serie A, even if time is not his biggest ally anymore.