(Reuters) - Shares in Juventus FC jumped almost 10 percent on Thursday
on the back of reports that Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo might
soon join the Italian club.
For a second day running, Juventus, Italy's most successful soccer team, declined to comment on the reports.
At
1230 GMT, Juventus shares were trading 9 percent higher at 0.81 euros.
Over the last three days, shares in the club have surged more than 20
percent in heavy trading volumes, as speculation over a Ronaldo transfer
mounted.
Several Italian newspapers said on Thursday that Ronaldo's
agent was expected to meet Real Madrid President Florentino Perez later
the same day to discuss the possible transfer.
Juventus won a seventh successive Serie A title in May, bringing their overall tally to a record 34 titles.
"It
would be a big deal, increasing the team's appeal and also because it
would bigger business for Juve, through merchandising," a Milan-based
trader said.
Ronaldo, who joined Real from Manchester United in
2008 for a then world record 80 million pounds ($105.9 million), is the
Spanish club's all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions
and has won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies with
them.
Despite the glut of silverware, however, the five-times
world player of the year has had frequent fallouts with Real and has
declared on several occasions that he wants to leave the club.
Moments
after lifting a third consecutive Champions League trophy by helping
Real beat Liverpool 3-1 in the final on May 26, Ronaldo appeared to
suggest he had already decided to leave, telling a television reporter
on the pitch at Kiev's NSC Olympic Stadium: "It was beautiful to play
for Real Madrid."
The 33-year-old appeared to backtrack on that
statement during Real's celebration parade through the Spanish capital
the next day, when he told a mass of supporters: "See you next season."
TRANSFER REPORTS
Real
have not issued any statement on their website about Ronaldo, although
in the past days they have issued statements denying reports they have
made transfer bids for Paris St Germain forwards Neymar and Kylian
Mbappe.
Spanish newspaper Marca suggested on Wednesday that
Ronaldo is unhappy at Real because they are searching for his successor
and Perez has publicly courted Neymar, urging the Brazilian last year to
come to Madrid if he wants to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.
Ronaldo,
Portugal's most capped player and all-time leading scorer with 85 goals
in 154 appearances, scored two goals against Juventus in Real's 4-1 win
in the 2017 Champions League final.
Earlier this season, he
struck a jaw-dropping bicycle kick against the Italians in a 3-0 win in a
quarter-final first-leg game in Turin which prompted Juve supporters to
give him a standing ovation.
He scored four goals in the World Cup,
including a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain, but missed a penalty in a
1-1 draw with Iran and could not prevent a second round 2-1 defeat by
Uruguay. ($1 = 0.7555 pounds)
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