This year’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball), one of the most prestigious trophies in the football world, went to Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi – for a record-breaking sixth time. Of course, his renowned Portuguese competitor for the award Cristiano Ronaldo was likely not thrilled by the news.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly confessed to his former teammates in private that it was a mistake to leave Real Madrid last year, according to Spain’s ABC citing sources familiar with the matter.

he Portuguese footballer spent 10 years at Real Madrid, leaving the club in 2018 to join Juventus on a €100 million transfer fee. He explained the move by his need for “a new challenge”, but reports indicate that the real reason behind the move was his anger with the club’s refusal to offer him the amount he wanted to renew his contract.

Ronaldo is now said to regret the move, allegedly thinking that he would have won the last two Golden Ball awards had he stayed at the club, but could not articulate this publically for obvious reasons. The reports suggest that the winger found it particularly difficult to start from scratch at the age of 33.