The 35-year-old has missed the Bianconeri's past four matches, including a midweek Champions League clash with Barcelona.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is closing in on a return to the team after testing negative for Covid-19.

The Serie A side confirmed the news on Friday in a statement on their official website.

"Cristiano Ronaldo carried out a check with a diagnostic test (swab) for Covid-19," the statement read.

"The exam provided a negative result. The player has, therefore, recovered after 19 days and is no longer subjected to home isolation."Goal

Ronaldo is set to take another test on Saturday and will train individually. Should that test come back negative, Ronaldo will be called in for Juve's Serie A clash against Spezia on Sunday

The 35-year-old originally tested positive for coronavirus on October 13 while on international duty with Portugal, forcing him to miss his country's 3-0 win over Sweden the following day.

Upon his return to Juventus, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was forced to miss four more games as he failed to produce a negative test.

Ronaldo was unable to participate as Juve drew Crotone and Verona in Serie A play, while he also missed out on a Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev and a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona earlier this week.

Missing out on the chance to face his long-time rival Lionel Messi and Barca was especially tough to swallow for Ronaldo, who posted and then deleted a comment on Instagram questioning the accuracy of the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

"PCR IS BULLSH*T", he wrote, before eventually deleting the comment.

Ronaldo has made just two appearances for Juventus this season, having last played in the 2-2 draw against Roma at the end of September.

The 35-year-old has still managed to score three goals and add one assist in those two matches.

Ronaldo has also found himself under investigation for a possible breaching of protocol after he flew back to Italy following his positive test result.

Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has claimed that Ronaldo was not able to enter the country without the proper authorisation from Italian health officials.

Spadafora told Rai Tre: "Cristiano did not respect the protocol. There is an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office to prove it.

"The virus has taught us that no one is exempt, obviously they are all people who have tried to respect the protocols as much as possible, but the only solution, in the end, is to stay at home."