Ronaldo: I left Real Madrid due to relationship with Florentino Perez

Cristiano Ronaldo shed a light on his surprising departure from Real Madrid this past summer, detailing in an exclusive interview with France Football that a deteriorating relationship with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez played a big part in the decision.

"I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start," Ronaldo said, as translated by The Guardian's Dominic Fifield.

"In the first four or five years there, I had the feeling of being 'Cristiano Ronaldo'. Less afterwards. The president looked at me through eyes that didn't want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean."

Ronaldo suggested the 71-year-old Perez, who took over Real Madrid for the second time in June 2009, was only interested in his ability to generate revenue.

"He only ever looked at me as a business relationship," Ronaldo said of Perez. "I know it. What he told me never came from the heart."

Ronaldo's move to Juventus was officially confirmed on July 10, with the Serie A club paying a €100-million fee for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. The swap brought an end to a nine-year stint with Los Merengues, during which Ronaldo helped the club win four Champions League trophies, two La Liga titles, and two Copa del Reys, while also usurping Raul as Real Madrid's all-time top scorer with 450 goals.

Ronaldo added that the jump to Italy wasn't due to financial reasons.

"If it had all been about money, I'd have moved to China, where I would have earned five times as much than here (at Juventus) or at Real," he said. "I did not come to Juve for the money. I earned the same in Madrid, if not more. The difference is that, at Juve, they really wanted me. They told me that and made it clear. They showed me that."