What's the story?
Barcelona President, Josep Bartomeu likens Ronaldo's Real Madrid exit to Neymar's Barcelona exit
After 9 supremely successful years at Real Madrid that saw him and the team win 15 major trophies, Cristiano Ronaldo stunningly traded the much-coveted whites for Juventus' black and white stripes earlier in the summer.
While it was undeniably the highlight of the summer transfer window, it is only now that Barcelona President, Josep Bartomeu, has decided to open up about the move, whilst also drawing a comparison between the Portuguese superstar and former Barcelona superstar, Neymar, who was also similarly lured out of Spain's top-flight club competition.
In case you didn't know...
According to FIFA's transfer policy and regulations, every club in Spain is required to insert a release clause in every player's contract, thereby allowing other clubs to contact their players, being fully aware of the player's price-tag.
In similar fashion to Ronaldo's move, Neymar also stunningly moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain ahead of last season, for a staggering world-record fee of €222 million, which happened to be the Brazilian's release clause.
The heart of the matter
Astonishingly, Barcelona President, Bartomeu, claimed that he was, in fact, saddened by Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid and LaLiga. Speaking on the matter in an interview, he said:
"Am I surprised by the transfer of Ronaldo from Madrid to Juventus? Andrea Agnelli has made a coup."
“I’m sorry that La Liga has lost a star, the second in two years after Neymar," he said
“It is negative for the movement, I’m not interested in the fact that Madrid may have weakened, we just want to play the best football.
“That is the only way we can compete with the Premier League, the richest league. Ronaldo not only improves Juve, but he also improves the whole Serie A.”
Bartomeu also took the opportunity to criticise FIFA's aforementioned transfer policy and also demanded for the establishment of proper rules to prevent clubs from 'tapping up' players, by stating:
“When somebody complains, first of all they should consider whether they may have done the same on certain occasions,”
He then directly referred to Neymar's case
"I don't think that PSG never had any contact with Neymar before they paid his release clause. How do you get away from this hypocrisy?
"It's up to FIFA to change the rules. In Spain, we have the disadvantage of these release clauses. Clubs know what the price of the player is and so they talk to them. FIFA must intervene.”
Video: Ronaldo has had a shaky start at Juventus
What's next?
It remains to be seen in FIFA actually consider taking Bartomeu's advice and subsequently establish necessary rules. Until then, however, every player in LaLiga will continue to have a release clause in their respective contracts - revealing their cost price to the world
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