Pele jabs Messi after Cristiano Ronaldo completed Juventus switch

Published on: 11 July 2018

Brazil legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento who is widely known as Pele, has taken a subtle swipe at Lionel Messi in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Italian giants Juventus.

Ronaldo's decision to end a nine-year Real Madrid stay to sign for Juventus is the right move, according to Pele.

The five-time Ballon d’or winner agreed a four-year deal with the Serie A champions to complete a €100 million (£88 million) transfer from Madrid on Tuesday.

This becomes the third move for the Madeira-born star who left Sporting Lisbon as a teenager to join English Premier League giants Manchester United in 2003.

Meanwhile the Real Madrid all-time scorer's sworn adversary, Lionel Messi has stayed glued to Spanish giants Barcelona despite the club receiving plethora of offers for his services.

Ronaldo said he wants to start a "new cycle" in his career at the age of 33, having won four Champions League titles in the past five years at Madrid.

And Pele, who spent 18 years at Santos before ending his career with New York Cosmos, understands Ronaldo's decision.

"Congratulations, Cristiano," the Brazil icon wrote on Twitter.

"It was hard to join another side after so long at Santos but it was the right move.

"Champions never tire of new challenges."

Indeed, Ronaldo indicated that he was considering a new challenge in May, after Real defeated Liverpool in the Champions League final.

Ronaldo will become the very first player to win league titles in Italy, Spain and England should he lead Juventus to the Serie A title in the forthcoming campaign.

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