MADRID, July 10, 2018 (News Wires) - Cristiano Ronaldo is leaving Real Madrid to sign with Italian champions Juventus, the Spanish club announced on Tuesday. The reigning Ballon d'Or winner is set to end his nine-year spell at the Bernabeu with a move to Turin following a rift with Madrid president Florentino Perez over a new contract. "Today Real Madrid wants to give thanks to a player who has demonstrated he is the best in the world and who marked one of the most brilliant periods in the history of our club and world football," the club said in a statement. "Real Madrid would like to communicate that we have listened to the wish and request expressed by player Cristiano Ronaldo and have agreed to his transfer to Juventus FC," the Champions League holders said in a statement. Ronaldo, Real Madrid's all-time leading goal scorer, will leave the club after leading them to four Champions League titles -- including three in as many years -- and he claimed a host of personal accolades and records from his time in Spain including four of his five Ballon d'Or awards. He issued a statement through Real Madrid calling his time in the Spanish capital as "the happiest years of my life." "These years at Real Madrid and in this city of Real Madrid have quite possibly be the happiest years of my life," he wrote. "I only have feelings of great gratitude to this club, to the fans and to the city. I can only give thanks to all of them for the love and affection that I have received. "However, I feel that the time has come to begin a new stage of my life and that is why I have asked the club to accept my transfer. I feel it this way and I am asking everyone, and especially my fans, to please understand me." The 33-year-old will be tasked with bringing Champions League glory back to Serie A champions Juve, who have been runners-up in two of the past four seasons. Ronaldo's Madrid contract, which had three years left to run, is worth significantly less than those of his fellow superstars -- Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar -- despite the Portugal captain helping Madrid extend their record haul of European Cup triumphs to 13.
