Ronaldo to Juventus: Stars who played for Real Madrid and the Italian champions

Cristiano Ronaldo agreed a sensational move from Real Madrid to Juventus on Tuesday.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner stated his desire to start a “new cycle” after nine years in Madrid, with Juve stumping up €112million to secure his signature.

It is strange that despite the respective size of each club, only 10 other players have represented both during their careers.

We give you the run down on how each of them fared.

Alvaro Morata

Morata was a product of the Madrid academy who, like many before him, had to move away to find his feet. After joining Juventus in 2014 for €20m, he won successive Serie A and Coppa Italia doubles before being bought back by Madrid, who he scored twice against to eliminate from the 2014-15 Champions League semi-finals, for €30m.

Sami Khedira

Industrious and intelligent defensive midfielder Khedira moved from Stuttgart to Madrid in 2010. Through five seasons with Los Blancos he picked up a Champions League and a LaLiga title. He joined Juve on a free transfer in 2015 and has won the domestic double three years in a row.

Benvenuto a Torino, Cristiano We had a great time together in Madrid, I can‘t wait to get back to work with you! Today is a special day for @juventusfc ! #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve #SK6 @cristiano pic.twitter.com/iU4ULPeHmg

— Sami Khedira (@SamiKhedira) July 10, 2018

Michael Laudrup

The iconic Danish playmaker moved from Brondby to Juventus in 1983, but restrictions on foreign players saw him loaned to Lazio for two seasons. After an unsuccessful four campaigns in Turin, a move to Barcelona reinvigorated his career. Laudrup then made a hugely controversial move to bitter rivals Madrid and the LaLiga title followed him.

Zinedine Zidane

After making his name for struggling Bordeaux in Ligue 1, Zidane moved to Juventus in 1996 for a paltry sum. Two Scudetti, a World Cup title and a Ballon d’Or later, Madrid came calling in a world-record move that has since been surpassed. He attained truly legendary status as a ‘Galactico’, winning the Champions League with one of the greatest goals of all time against Bayer Leverkusen.

Gonzalo Higuain

After making his name with River Plate, 19-year-old Higuain was snapped up by Madrid for €12m. He scored 107 goals in 190 LaLiga appearances before being sold to Napoli in 2013 following the emergence of Karim Benzema. After a prolific spell in Naples, Higuain moved to Juve for €90m in 2016. The striker has since won two domestic doubles, as well as blasting the team to a Champions League final.

Congratulations to @G_Higuain , our MVP of the Year, powered by @EASPORTSFIFA #ForzaJuve #JuveVerona pic.twitter.com/tunHD7nFU5

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) May 19, 2018

Fabio Cannavaro

Serving with distinction for Parma and Inter, Cannavaro moved to Juve at the height of his powers in a baffling swap deal for unheralded goalkeeper Fabian Carini. He became the world’s pre-eminent defender, winning two Serie A titles and lifting the World Cup – though the Scudetti were stripped following the Calciopoli scandal that resulted in him moving to Madrid. The Ballon d’Or winner lifted the LaLiga trophy twice at the Santiago Bernabeu, before returning to Juve.

Nicolas Anelka

Madrid snapped up a 20-year-old Anelka from Arsenal for €34.5m in 1999. However, he endured a miserable spell as he failed to score in his first five months with the club. His stint with Juve 14 years later was just as fruitless – on loan from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, the former France international made only three appearances as the Bianconeri topped Serie A.

Luis del Sol

Del Sol played for Madrid from 1959 to 1962, scoring a respectable 32 goals in 96 appearances. However, his career truly took off when he became the first Spaniard to turn out for Juve. In eight happy seasons in Turin he won the Coppa Italia and Serie A, while also triumphing at the 1964 European Championship with Spain.

Di Stéfano scored four against the Andalusian side in the 1960/1961 season (5-0). Luis Del Sol hit the remaining goal pic.twitter.com/xjmZIjMFTc

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) April 5, 2015

Emerson

The aggressive Brazilian midfielder made a controversial move from Roma to Juve and was instrumental in their back-to-back Serie A successes in 2005 and 2006 (prior to their removal during the Calciopoli scandal). He followed manager Fabio Capello to the Bernabeu rather than staying with the Old Lady in Serie B, but was not a regular starter in another title-winning season.

Robert Jarni

Jarni made 30 appearances as Juve won Serie A in his only season with the club, a move to Real Betis coming off the back of their 1994-95 success. After a stint at Coventry City – during which he failed to make an appearance – following Croatia’s impressive 1998 World Cup, he struggled to make his mark at Madrid and was again moved one after one campaign.