Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed the real reason behind his departure from the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.
The 33-year-old joined the Italian League champions in a mega deal this summer after ending his nine year reign with Real Madrid.
He scored 450 goals in 438 appearances during his reign at the club with four Champions League titles to his credit.
Ronaldo scored twice to help Juve come from one goal down to beat Empoli 2-1 in their last Serie A meeting over the weekend.
The former Manchester United striker said that Real president Florentino Pérez has turned him money making machine and nothing more, insisting that it deteriorated their relationship.
"He only ever looked at me as a business relationship," Ronaldo said . "I know it. What he told me never came from the heart ."
"I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start," he said.
"In the first four or five years there, I had the feeling of being 'Cristiano Ronaldo'. Less afterwards .
"The president looked at me through eyes that didn't want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean .
"That's what made me think about leaving. Sometimes I'd look at the news, where they were saying I was asking to leave.
There was a bit of that, but the truth is that I always had the impression that the president would not hold me back.
"If it had all been about money, I'd have moved to China, where I would have earned five times as much than here [at Juventus] or at Real .
"I did not come to Juve for the money. I earned the same in Madrid, if not more. The difference is that, at Juve, they really wanted me. They told me that and made it clear. They showed me that. "
When asked if Zinedine Zidane's depature influenced his decision to leave the Spanish club, he said: " My decision to leave was not based on his departure.
"That being the case, it's one of those little things that made me feel a bit better in terms of what I thought of the situation at the club. "
"I think I deserve it this year ... Yes, I dream of winning the Ballon d'Or for the sixth time and passing, in this case, Lionel Messi ."
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