Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis considers Juventus to be gambling by recruiting Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo came to Juventus with a transfer value of 100 million euros. The transfer value is greater than when Real Madrid bought CR7 from Manchester United in 2009. While it is believed to be less than his wages in Spain, Juve is reportedly paying Ronaldo € 30 million a year across a four-year contract, which is substantially more than the rest of its top players earn.
De Laurentiis believes that such enormous fees represent a gamble on a player entering his 17th full season as a professional.
“Spending a lot of money on players at the end of his career is dangerous.”
“Let’s not forget that Ronaldo is old and in terms of balance (finances) club, they do gambling,” De Laurentiis said as quoted by ESPN.
De Laurentiis considered interesting to see the results obtained by Juventus after they bring Ronaldo, after previously they has status as king of Italy.
“It’s interesting to see whether their commercial success is ultimately greater than success in sports (achievements),” De Laurentiis said.
De Laurentiis himself admitted that he also had time to open the possibility of bringing Ronaldo. It happened when he met Ronaldo’s agent, Rui Patricio.
“Ronaldo has one of the smartest footballing agencies in the world and I had breakfast together to discuss Rui Patricio.”
“When the situation is clear that Ronaldo is leaving Real Madrid, he offers me (Ronaldo),” De Laurentiis said.
De Laurentiis then thought of a formula to bring in Ronaldo which he considered did not interfere with the financial condition of the club.
“I envisage a profit-based transfer model because of the transfer process, I offer Mendes that Napoli will get the first 250 million euros (profit) and Ronaldo will receive the next 100 million euros Napoli earns, but after that Juventus come (join the transfer),” De Laurentiis said.
Napoli in the last two seasons was a serious challengers for Juventus in scudetto hunt. They often lead the standings in mid-season but eventually lose to Juventus at the end of the season.
In the 2017/2018 season, Napoli brought Carlo Ancelotti to replace Maurizio Sarri. The presence of Ancelotti who has a clock flying high in Serie A is believed to bring Napoli stronger this season.
