Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has brandished Juventus‘ signing of Cristiano Ronaldo financially “dangerous” because of the player’s age.
Ronaldo, 33, completed a surprise move to Juventus in July after making 438 appearances for Real Madrid, where he scored 450 goals and won four Champions League titles.
Many of those appearances came under Carlo Ancelotti, who coached Madrid between 2013-2015 and was appointed Napoli manager earlier this summer.
But the man who lured Ancelotti to Naples, De Laurentiis, has suggested Juventus’ big-money move for Ronaldo could backfire in the long run.
“Cristiano is getting on a bit now,” De Laurentiis told La Verita, according to AS. “To maintain some kind of balance, it’s very dangerous for a club to spend so much money on just one player – one who is reaching the end of his career.
“His salary is totally off the scale for Juve’s means. I wonder whether it will be more of a commercial success than a sporting one. If you start paying crazy wages, sooner or later, it will start going against you.”
The Napoli president did, however, admit that Ronaldo’s signature will be a good thing for Juventus in the short term from a financial point of view.
“In terms of publicity, Juve have pulled off a great move for the Fiat-Chrysler group,” he said.
“It also masks some of the disillusion among the fans – without a big name singing after having won the last seven league titles, what promises can you give the fans – and the sponsors, to get them excited? I admit that signing Cristiano was a great idea.”
Napoli saw coach Maurizio Sarri, who guided the team to a second-place league finish in 2017/18, leave for Chelsea in July. Italian midfielder Jorginho has also left Napoli for the Blues.
Last season’s runners-up kick off their new Serie A campaign against Lazio on August 19, while Ronaldo begins life in Serie A with a trip to Chievo on the same day.
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