REVEALED: How Cristiano Ronaldo broke “pact” with Juventus to force sensational return to Manchester United on transfer Deadline Day

Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly broke a ‘pact’ with Juventus to force through his return to Manchester United last month.

The Portuguese forward, 36, was expected to see out the final year of his contract in Turin, but suddenly completed a shock return to Old Trafford on transfer deadline day.

His agent, Jorge Mendes, had been working on getting his client out of the Stadio delle Alpi in the weeks leading up to his switch – something that appears to have gone against a prior agreement he made with Juve chiefs.

According to Cadena Ser, via the Mirror, Mendes had agreed a deal for Ronaldo to move elsewhere could only be followed through if everything was finalised by August 15 – over two weeks before the window shut.

Juventus ‘ stance was due to their belief that finding a replacement for their top goalscorer would be impossible after that date.

Once that had passed, Juve were under the impression their frontman would be staying, with even boss Massimiliano Allegri stating: “He has never wanted to leave. He told me that he’s staying and he will be in Udine.”

However, it was Juventus’ 2-2 draw with Udinese the following day which is said to have prompted Ronaldo to apply pressure on the club to move him on.

And while Ronaldo may have broken his supposed agreement with his employers, the reports from Spain do not take into account Juventus’ perilous financial situation at the time.

Marcos Alonso explains why he’s not joining his teammates to take a knee before matches

Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has stopped taking a knee before matches as he thinks the anti-racism gesture is “losing a bit of strength”.

Instead, the 30-year-old Spaniard says he prefers to stand and point to the No To Racism badge on his shirt sleeve.

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha was the first Premier League player to stop taking a knee.

“I am fully against racism and I’m against every type of discrimination,” said Alonso.

“I just prefer to put my finger to the badge where it says No To Racism, like they do in some other sports and football in other countries.

“I prefer to do it this way and, of course, to say very clearly that I am against racism and I respect everybody.”

Players began taking the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement after the Premier League’s 100-day hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic in June 2020.

Prior to the start of the current top-flight season, players from all 20 Premier League clubs said they would continue to take the knee as a symbol of their “unity against all forms of racism”.

However, Zaha said earlier this year that players “should stand tall”, and reiterated his view that taking the knee was “degrading”.

On pointing to the No To Racism badge rather than take a knee, Alonso added: “I just prefer to do it this way. It’s my way to do it, and maybe I think it’s losing a bit of strength the other way.

“So I just prefer to do it this way and to show I am fully supportive of fighting against racism.

“For now, I prefer to point to the sleeve and that’s what I will do.”

Barcelona President desperate to bring Pep Guardiola to Nou Camp, identifies another option to replace Ronald Koeman

Reports in Spain claim Joan Laporta is desperate to bring Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola back to Barcelona amid huge problems facing the Ctalan giants.

The La Liga side have one win in their last four matches and performances in these fixtures have been subject to criticism.

Most of the blame is pointed towards Ronald Koeman, especially after his side’s defeat to Bayern Munich and a draw against Granada in the league on Monday.

According to ElNacional, Laporta ‘asks’ the former Bayern manager if he wants to leave the English champions for the Catalan club.

It’s said the Spanish side’s chief ‘does not intend on giving up’ and ‘will do everything in his power’ to get Guardiola back to the Camp Nou one day, and ‘as soon as possible’.

This seems to be an ‘almost impossible mission’ since the 50-year-old has said his stage at Barca is part of the past.

Laporta’s ‘big dream’ would be to see the Manchester City boss manage Barcelona again.

Should this option be ruled out, then the Barca chief would be happy to return with another position for Guardiola, either as an advisor to the president, in charge of La Masia or as a sporting director.

With Guardiola part of Barca’s technical team along with Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, the report says Erik Ten Hag would ‘fit perfectly’ as the coach.

It’ll be a tough task for Laporta and Barcelona to persuade Guardiola to leave City, especially when he still has a contract with them until 2023.

“We are in difficult conditions right now”- Guardiola makes honest admission ahead of games against Chelsea, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted the problem his team is facing with a string of tough matches in the next two weeks.

City are facing a number of injury issues heading into their first cup tie of the campaign, with Manchester City looking to retain the Carabao Cup for the fifth year running.

With crunch ties against Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool all looming in the space of two weeks, Guardiola’s side could lay down an early marker in the league and Europe after a stop-start beginning to the season.

After struggling against Southampton, the Sky Blues will need to shuffle their pack for the aforementioned ties, with the likes of Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko all out injured.

Ahead of City’s tie with Wycombe, Guardiola said, “We are going to play the Carabao Cup,” as quoted by the club’s official website.

“We are going to see how many people recover for the next days, because we are in difficult conditions right now, but we will go there to London, Paris and Liverpool to do good games, absolutely.”

The Sky Blues registered just one shot on target in their recent league clash, following their 6-3 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last week.

Guardiola added, “Football depends a lot on how well we do our process in the build-up and when that happens the strikers play better, our wingers play better and our attacking midfielders play better.

“Against Southampton, we struggled a little bit for that. They know it exactly. Sometimes the opponent plays well, and if you analyse why we didn’t create chances against Southampton, it was for that reason.”

John Stones and Aymeric Laporte remain out of action with muscle injuries that have kept the defensive duo out of the fold following the international break.

Chelsea flop confesses, says his Stamford Bridge club career “has been a shambles”

Danny Drinkwater says his time at Chelsea has been a “shambles”, with the 31-year-old midfielder becoming a £35 million ($48m) flop for the Blues following a transfer from Leicester in 2017.

The England international on another loan spell away from Stamford Bridge this season after linking up with Championship side Reading.

Drinkwater, who has made just 12 Premier League appearances for Chelsea and 23 in total across all competitions, told talkSPORT, via Goal, when assessing his time in west London: “Can I paint a picture? No. It’s been a shambles.

“It’s football, it’s never straightforward, it’s never simple. I’m just excited for the new challenges. I need to [kick-start my career]. I’m more excited about this than I have been for a few years now, especially how my career’s panned out.

“Games, getting the enjoyment of football back, then going from there. A few have slid away, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve not played.

“I’m in the last year of my contract, so there’s more than just football riding on it. I’ve got other things.”

He added: “I’m desperate for games, I know my position and I know it’s not what I’ve expected for 10 years. So I’ve got to make changes and I’m making the right steps.

“I’ve just got to keep in contact with the manager, trust each other and trust the team. Hopefully they trust me and we can build on that.”