LONDON: Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has not ruled out the possibility of Cristiano Ronaldo returning to the club.

The 36 -year -old Portuguese star is likely to be released by Juventus at the end of the season.

Juventus fell out of the last 16 of the Champions League for the second time in a row at the hands of Porto this week.

And they are facing serious financial problems because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ease the burden, the club are reportedly ready to release Ronaldo who receives a salary of £ 500,000 a week with the player still having a one -year contract with the Italian giants.

As speculation about his direction began to come to light, it was also revealed that Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, had held ‘informal’ talks to allow the player to return to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo spent nine seasons at the Bernabeu scoring 450 goals in 438 appearances.

And Zidane seems reluctant to rule out the possibility of returning with the player.

Speaking ahead of the meeting with Elche, he said: “You know what Cristiano Ronaldo means for Real Madrid.”