It was all a lie.
We know that Cronaldo wants 30\year and a 4 year contract, because this is exactly what he asked from Real.
So any fabricated news would use that to give credibility.
Transfer rumors gain credibility only after mentioning salary and transfer fees.
So the Italian reporters knew what Cronaldo needs to pay the 98mil of taxes he owes and his annual needs and it was safe to claim that we had a deal with him.
The risk was to calculate a possible transfer amount.
And this is where they totally failed and lost all credibility.
They claimed that for a man of his quality and age 100mil would do the trick.
But his agent said that for this transfer a total of 350mil would t be enough. Because the player wants 27mil\season and Real want Mbappe who is valued at 272mil.
The amount goes way beyond what Juve can offer and would render the rumor ridiculous, so the fabricated rumor included a more realistic approach, however too good to be true.
It was a matter of time to see that the rumors held no water, but they managed to sell some papers already...