Lionel Messi is looking more likely to end his football days wearing the same Barcelona jersey, and that appears to be the picture dreamed for rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The plan by Juventus, where the Portuguese currently plays, is to give two more years to Ronaldo's existing contract en route to ending his career with the Italian giants.
Ronaldo will not be out of Turin until two years from now, but the Old Lady is already making plans - that is to make the scoring champion remain with the club through the end of his moments at the pitch. Juventus would want to keep the striker until 2024.
The Sun reported Juventus would make an offer of two years extension to the Portuguese superstar, with the team hoping that he could be convinced to stay. One way of making him interested is to strengthen the Juventus so that the team can compete with the Champions League.
Along with the plan to keep Ronaldo on the Juventus roster, the Italian giants are plotting to recruit goalscorers to support the mission of winning titles. On the hiring radar of the club is Premier League stars Harry Kane and Gabriel Jesus. The former is tipped to be on the way of Tottenham following the English club's exit from the Champions League.
Ronaldo's team is also looking at the possibility of bringing in Timo Werner from Inter Milan and Mauro Icardi from Paris Saint-Germain.
These players have one thing in common - they are all under 30 and fit with the Juventus blueprint of building up around Ronaldo and preparing for his eventual exit, the report said.
And to make the extension offer more tempting for Ronaldo, the club is prepared to give Ronaldo a wage bump. That means the Juventus ace's weekly salary of £500,000 will be increased once the new deal has been finalized.
Keeping Ronaldo as Juventus' marquee player seems understandable as the 35-year-old continues to impress, The Daily Mail said. He has appeared in 32 games so far in the season and registered 25 goals, the majority made in Serie A.
And even more impressive was the superstar's scoring run that stretched through 11 games, somehow convincing Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri that it will take a while before Ronaldo runs out of steam.
Of note in the recent El Clasico match, Ronaldo's rival Messi again went scoreless, and the fifth time, the Argentine failed to contribute in the matchup of the Spanish giants. Ronaldo used to be part of the showdown while playing for Real Madrid.
Pundits are now saying Messi, who is two years younger than Ronaldo, is starting on the road to decline, which has yet to be said of the Juventus striker.
