Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have joked that former Juventus teammate Wojciech Szczesny had to go into retirement in order to join “a big club” like Barcelona.

Szczesny chose to retire this summer when it became clear Juventus were planning for a future without him, but ended his spell on the sidelines after just a few months to join Barcelona as an emergency replacement for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Ronaldo was in Szczesny’s homeland of Poland on Saturday on Portugal duty and the former Juventus teammates met up behind the scenes for a catch-up and photo.

In footage captured by the Polish Football Federation, Ronaldo appeared to take a swipe at Juventus when congratulating Szczesny on his move to Barcelona.

Szczesny told Ronaldo: “I play for Barcelona now.”

Ronaldo responded: ” I know.”

“You needed to retire to go to a big club,” Ronaldo told Szczesny.

Ronaldo described Juve as an “amazing club” when he departed for Manchester United in 2021, but memories of his spell in Turin are split. He scored 101 goals in 134 games and won two Serie A titles in three years, but many have questioned whether Ronaldo improved the team as a whole.

A judge finally determined that Ronaldo was owed a total of €10 million when he filed a lawsuit against Juventus earlier this year over unpaid earnings resulting from deferrals during the COVID-19 outbreak.