His fans would have expected Cristiano Ronaldo to be making headlines in the final week of the World Cup, and the Portuguese star has managed to deliver despite leaving the competition nearly a fortnight ago.
Italian giant Juventus announced today it had splashed out 112 million euros ($177 million) to pry the five-time European Cup winner to Turin in a deal that potentially has big implications for the established European footballing hierarchy.
Ronaldo may be 33 years old, but is arguably in as good a form now as he ever has been — particularly in big games.
Just last month his magnificent hat-trick for Portugal salvaged a draw against Spain in their dramatic World Cup opener.
@cristiano https://t.co/88xFtX3Xw4 #CR7Juve pic.twitter.com/nnG0N4074U — JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 10, 2018
@cristiano https://t.co/88xFtX3Xw4 #CR7Juve pic.twitter.com/nnG0N4074U
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 10, 2018
Madrid will sign one, two, three or four players to replace him but none who arrive will score 50 goals per year for nine seasons in a row. There must be a reflection on why this goodbye has been so ugly and hasty, especially as the economic factor of the deal seems to lack importance. 100 million euros is an extraordinary amount for a normal 33-year-old player, but not for Ronaldo. Legends don’t have a price.
Ronaldo is one of the most famous people on the planet and boasts 318.3m followers across various social media platforms. For point of reference, LeBron James’ following [101m] amounts to less than a third of Ronaldo’s audience. For Juventus and their sponsors, present and prospective, that’s huge exposure in markets where they are seeking to grow or just establish a presence. It dwarfs any club and reinforces this idea that fans are increasingly supporting athletes first, and franchises second. Sign a player and their supporters are transferrable too; they come as part of the deal.
Ultimately, Juventus are speculating to accumulate. If PSG forecasted a 20-30 percent spike in income on the back of Neymar’s arrival at the Parc des Princes, Juventus presumably consider the same figure achievable with the signing of Ronaldo. It’s a deal worth making an exception for after years of prudent management.
And the Ronaldo effect has already had an impact. Juventus’s shares jumped almost 40 per cent at the news of his signing.
