Where are they now? The 5 players Juventus sold alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo left Juventus in the summer of 2021, but what happened to the other five players that the club sold alongside him that summer?
CR7 spent a total of three years in Italy and scored a whopping 101 goals along the way and managed to win five trophies too.
We’ve taken a closer look at the business Juventus were doing at the time and have checked up on the other players they sold in the summer of 2021.
Gianluigi Buffon
For the second time in his career, Buffon left Juventus in the summer of 2021 upon his contract expiring. By this point, he was behind Wojciech Szczesny in the pecking order and realised he needed a fresh challenge elsewhere.
“I feel I gave everything for Juve,” Buffon said upon leaving the club.
“I have received everything, and more than this cannot be done. We have reached the end of a cycle and it’s right for one to remove the disturbance.”
Being 43 years old at the time, he did consider hanging up his gloves, but the temptation to return to boyhood club Parma was too strong.
The legendary shot-stopper spent his final two years of professional football playing in Serie B before he eventually called it quits last summer at the ripe old age of 45.
Since hanging up his gloves, Buffon has taken up a role within the national team. His official role is the ‘National Team Delegation Head for Italy’ and he could be seen on the bench alongside Luciano Spalletti at Euro 2024.
When describing the role, Buffon told TMW: “I’m head of the delegation, I don’t even control my own house, imagine what role I could fill! But I like the role, and it’s very fun.
“I act as a bit of a filter between the boys, the coach and the environment, and then I should act in place of the president when he’s not there.
“A role where when they speak their mind, you have to listen.”
Cristian Romero
Last year, Lionel Messi described Romero as the “best defender in the world” which is quite the statement.
Juventus originally sent the defender on a two-year loan to Atalanta, but the deal was made permanent in 2021 for a fee of €16million (£13.5million).
Later that day, Atalanta immediately sent him on loan to Tottenham and that deal was then made permanent in the following season.
He’s since developed into a top Premier League defender, although the majority of his success has come on the international level stage with Argentina.
Romero started in the Copa America, Finalissima and World Cup finals and managed to get his hands on all three trophies in the space of just two years.
The 26-year-old will happily run through a brick wall for his teammates and his enthusiasm for the game certainty cannot be called into question.
READ: Where are they now? Andrea Pirlo’s 7 signings as Juventus manager
Lucas Rosa
The Brazilian right-back spent three years on the books at Juventus but never managed to make a senior appearance for the club. He predominately played for the clubs under-23s before he was eventually let go in 2021.
Since leaving Italy, Rosa has crafted a decent career for himself in Spain and now plays for Real Valladolid who were recently promoted back to La Liga.
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Timothy Nocchi
Incredibly, Nocchi spent 12 years at Juventus but never appeared for the club. Instead, he spent the majority of his time out on loan and played for 10 different clubs before he eventually left in 2021.
Now aged 34, the goalkeeper recently signed for lower league outfit ASD New Rosignano Solvay 1922.
Nikolai Baden Frederiksen
The Danish forward was snapped up by Vitesse in 2021 after spending his formative years at Juventus. He went on to score 13 goals for the Dutch club before joining Danish side Lyngby earlier this year.