World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 77

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BELOWLEFT:

Greeted...Ronaldo

waves to fanson

hisarrivalinItaly

something,too.Certainly,Juve’ssporting

director, FabioParatici,mademuch of

thematter on “CR7Day”,tellingSky

Italia: “Thismad idea beganafterthat

gameinTurin...afterhisoverhead-kick

goal.Intheweekafterthat,hisagent,

Jorge Mendes,toldusthatRonaldo

hadbeen‘reallystruck’ by theoverall

reaction,somuchsothatoneday

hewouldliketoplayforJuventus.”

JuvepresidentAgnelli toldParatici

topursuetheideaandina relatively

shorttimethe“dealofthe century”

wasup andrunning.

Whilemany have suggestedthat

thiswasan importantfillipforItalian

football,RomacaptainDaniele De Rossi

wasperhapsmoreaccurate whenhe

said:“ThearrivalofCristianoRonaldo

isa hugeboost forItalianfootball but,

aboveall,itisa huge boost forJuventus,

theclubthathasboughthim.”

Andnotjustonthepitch.Thearrival

ofRonaldopromptedanimmediate hike

inthe club’s share pricewiththeclub’s

marketvaluationrisingfrom€665m

to€ 815 mina matter of days.

WhatseemscertainisthatJuventus

willhavethoughtlongandhardabout

thesoundnessofa businessplanwhich,

reportedly, involves a totalcost of more

than€300m,whentaxes,wages and

thelikeareincluded.

IfJuventusfeelthatRonaldois

worth thislevel of outlayit canonlybe

presumedthattheyhavegottheirsums

right.Timewill tell,buttheinitial rush

onCR7shirtssuggeststhatthismove

couldyet notchJuventusonemore

rungupthe internationalladderoffame

andinfluence,certainlyinmarketing,

merchandisingandpublicityterms.

Remember,too,thatthisistheclub

whichinthelastdecade hasemerged

fromtheCalciopoliscandalanda year

inSerieBtoreachunparalleleddomestic

dominance,pullingoffsomeveryhandy

transferdeals– such as thefreesignings

ofAndreaPirlo,SamiKhediraandPaul

Pogba,whowas subsequentlysoldback

topreviousclubManchester Unitedfor

€ 10 5min 2016.

Despite theirsuccess,Juventus

arestillrankedonlytenth in Deloitte’s

Money League,withthefirstthreein

theranking– Manchester United,Real

MadridandBarcelona– allearning

50 per cent more in annual revenues.

AccordingtoLaGazzetta delloSport,

internationalauditorsKMPGhave

estimatedthatJuventuscouldincrease

theirannualturnover by€ 10 0minthe

nexttwo or threeyearsinthe wake of

theRonaldodeal.

Allof thatwillbecomemuchclearer

induecourse.Whatisclearalreadyis

thatRonaldo’sarrivalhasbeenwarmly

welcomedbyItalianfootball.Current

nationalteamcoachRobertoMancini

probablyspokeformanywhenhesaid:

“Thisisexcellentnews. Youcanonly

learnfromgreatplayerslike him, and

ouryoungplayers– theoneswhohave

alreadybeencalleduptotheItalyteam

• will only getbetteriftheyhave
  thechance of playingagainst him.
  “Allinall,a player like himis
  a blessingforSerieA.”

“Thearrival of CristianoRonaldois

a huge boostfor Italianfootballbut,

above all, it is a huge boostfor Juventus”

Romacaptain DanieleDeRossi