The sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United is part of Italian justice’s investigation into Juventus’ transfer policy. Last Saturday, the investigative services already raided the club’s offices in Milan and Turin because of alleged tampering with player transfer values. In an official statement, Juventus reports that the public prosecutor now also has the transfer of Ronaldo in his sights. A new ‘house search’ has therefore been ordered at the club.
Juventus is suspected of having messed with the transfer values of players, in order to get the balance in order financially. Ronaldo left for Manchester United in August 2021 for fifteen million euros; bonuses can increase the amount by eight million euros. Juventus is cooperating with the investigation and assuring that the investigation into Ronaldo’s transfer does not change the news communicated last week. Over the past week, several Juventus directors have been questioned by a prosecutor in Turin, including Maurizio Arrivabene and Under-23 director Giovanni Manna.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport A “secret document” allegedly containing an alleged agreement between Ronaldo and Juventus is being sought. For that reason, the prosecutor could also talk to agent Jorge Mendes. The possibility of calling Ronaldo himself as a witness has also been suggested, but the Corriere della Sera considers it more logical to turn to Mendes. He could be asked to hand over evidence after Christmas. The prosecutor allegedly discovered the existence of the secret document through a wiretapped telephone conversation.
In a conversation between director Federico Cherubini and club lawyer Cesare Gabasio, it is said that “a document that should not exist”. It is unclear whether Ronaldo’s name was actually mentioned in that telephone conversation. Earlier it became clear that chairman Andrea Agnelli, vice chairman Pavel Nedved and former technical director Fabio Paratici, now employed by Tottenham Hotspur, are considered the suspects in the case. Two financial directors who were called to provide evidence, Marco Re and Stefano Bertola, are said to have refused to answer questions.
Substitute at Juventus due to tampering with transfer values since 2019
The raid was first reported last Saturday.
The listed Juventus is said to have not only consciously scaled the transfer value of certain players higher in recent years, but also issued invoices for non-existent transactions. According to the judiciary, this concerns a total of approximately fifty million euros in suspicious money movements. Juventus’ agreement with Barcelona on the transfers of Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo is also under investigation, it was announced last week. The Brazilian left for Juventus for 72 million euros, an amount that can rise to 82 million euros due to bonuses. Pjanic went the other way for 60 million euros, bonuses can increase that amount to 65 million euros.
An accounting trick was the reason for its construction. Barcelona and Juventus were able to write good figures towards the end of the financial year with tens of millions in transfer income. Of course with a view to the Financial Fair Play rules. The estimated book value of Pjanic was just around ten million euros just before the deal. The value of Arthur ‘on the books’ was about twenty million euros. The hefty net profit was extremely welcome from an accounting point of view for both clubs and much more attractive than an exchange deal and approximately twelve million euros extra investment from Juventus. The club has made such a remarkable double transfer before, with João Cancelo moving to Manchester City on the one hand and Danilo signing in Turin on the other. This transfer is also under scrutiny.