Juventus makes it clear: Cristiano Ronaldo is untouchable

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is staying at Turin. Regardless of the abundance of reports linking the Portuguese star to a move away from the club, Juventus vice-president Pavel Nedved has put the rumours to rest by making it clear that the player is currently "untouchable."

Nedved spoke up to put an end to the speculations surrounding the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner's future. Simply put, he said that the club fully intends to honour Ronaldo's current contract which runs for another season. "Ronaldo is untouchable. He has a contract until June 30, 2022, and he will stay," Nedved said, in an interview quoted by Marca.

A former player himself, Nedved praised Ronaldo and explained why the club still sees him as an asset despite the fact that they are set to lose their Serie A winning streak which spans nine seasons.

"What happens next will be seen. Cristiano, both on a technical and marketing level, gave us a boost towards the Olympus of football. On his technical level, nothing can be said: he scored more than 100 goals in 120 games."

This season, Ronaldo has already scored 34 times across all competitions. There is no doubt that his form has not dipped since he was signed by the club in 2018. Unfortunately, their goal of winning the UEFA Champions League with Ronaldo spearheading the campaign, has so far been elusive.

They have just been eliminated by Porto in the last 16 this season, and only managed to make it to the quarter-finals once in the last three years.

Nevertheless, the club's confidence in Ronaldo does not appear to have wavered. He has been strongly linked to a Real Madrid comeback, but club president Florentino Perez does not appear to be keen on the idea. However, manager Zinedine Zidane and captain Sergio Ramos have been singing praises about the Portugal captain. In the end though, the decision will not be up to them.

Apart from Ronaldo, Juventus club officials have also made it clear that they intend to continue their relationship with rookie manager Andrea Pirlo.

"Pirlo is and will be Juventus' coach, 100 percent," said Nedved. "We married a project with Andrea, knowing that there would be difficulties."