Cristiano Ronaldo offered himself to Juventus during the Serie A club’s talks over Joao Cancelo, another of Jorge Mendes’ clients, according to the Bianconeri’s sporting director, Fabio Paratici.

Ronaldo moved to Juve in the close season for a fee of €112-million, ending a nine-year stint at Real Madrid, and his agent Mendes said on Saturday that the move was ‘borne of himself’.

And Paratici also suggested that Ronaldo was the instigating party in the transfer.

‘When we met with Mendes to discuss Cancelo, that is where the whole thing began,’ Paratici told Sky Sport Italia.

‘Mendes said to me: ‘You won’t believe this, but Cristiano wants to come to Juve.’

‘I replied that I believed it, but it seemed difficult to make everything come together and work.’

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Ronaldo has hit his stride in Turin, and has scored 12 times in all competitions to help Juve move clear at the top of Serie A and progress in the Champions League.

But Paratici added that bringing in the Portugal star never seemed a likely option.

‘The greatest players help kids to dream. My son wanted Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey, so when I went to see a Portugal game, I bought it and he wore it all the time.

‘Every year he’d ask me: ”Daddy, why don’t we buy Cristiano Ronaldo?” Because it’s impossible.

‘Then when it happened, he said: ”Daddy, you told me it was impossible.” I had no answer.’