S.S.C Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has warned that Juventus’ acquisition of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo for such a large transfer fee and salary commitment is a very risky move given his age, Goal.com reported on Monday.
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“Spending so much money to buy only one player at the end of his career is very dangerous. Let's remember that Cristiano Ronaldo is of a certain age and in terms of the club’s balancing of accounts his signing is a risky move,” President De Laurentiis said.
“The signing of Ronaldo is out of any standard. If you start to pay such absurd and out-of-the-ordinary salaries, sooner or later this turns against you.”
Juventus paid Real Madrid almost $140 million for the striker, who turned 33 earlier this year, and will pay him in excess of $130 million as part of his four-year contract with the Italian side.
Although the transfer fee paid for Ronaldo is unprecedented in Italy’s Serie A tournament, the move could pay off, as although the striker is arguably past his prime, he remains more than capable of scoring goals and making a difference in other areas of the pitch, as he demonstrated during the 2018 World Cup, especially in Portugal’s opening match against Spain.
Furthermore, Ronaldo’s ability to promote Juventus and draw in revenue shouldn’t be underestimated – orders for his Juventus jersey are already in the millions of euros and his on-the-pitch performance should boost the club’s tournament rankings, bringing in more prize money.
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