Ronaldo a transformative signing for Juventus, Serie A

Cristiano-Ronaldo

Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

European club soccer has enjoyed a busy and eventful summer transfer window period, highlighted by Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus.

The Portuguese star arrived at the Turin-based club following a Serie A transfer record worth USD $131 million. The popular belief was that Ronaldo was going to return to Manchester United this summer, but instead he opted for Italy in a move that a lot of pundits didn’t see coming.

Paolo Bandini of The Guardian newspaper in England is one of the leading pundits on Italian soccer. He spoke to Sportsnet on the eve of the new Serie A season about what Ronaldo’s signing means for Juventus and the Italian top flight.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Sportsnet: Were you at all surprised by Ronaldo joining Juventus? There was significant chatter of him moving back to Manchester United, but he ended up going to Italy.

Bandini: If you had told me back in early May that this was going to happen, I would have had skepticism about it. But when it all came together like it did, it made perfect sense from everybody’s point of view. Ronaldo had his issues with the tax man in Spain, and that may have played some part in [him leaving Real Madrid]. He also achieved everything one can achieve at a single club, so that likely played a part. Perhaps the desire to write one more chapter about his legacy and separate himself from others by winning the [Champions League] at another big club in another country was part of it.

From Juventus’ point of view, they pick up someone who is absolutely transformative to their marketing efforts and their branding around the globe. From Real Madrid’s point of view, it’s a huge transfer fee for a player who is 33 years old and who, despite his very super-human abilities, is human and on the decline, so you wouldn’t have had many more opportunities to cash in on him at that price. So, it makes perfect sense when you look at through those lenses.

But at the start of the summer I would have thought it unconceivable. It’s just been so long since an Italian club made a serious play for one of the best players in the world. Serie A has featured some of the best players in the world before, but to go out and sign Ronaldo, a player at his level, it’s been a long time for Serie A. Perhaps, since Inter Milan signed the Brazilian Ronaldo.

It was a pretty ambitious move by Juventus, no?

Very much so. What comes to mind is Juve having the confidence to say, “we’re big enough to go after a player like Ronaldo.” That’s something that requires a certain level of belief in where you are as a club, what you represent, and I think it’s taken Juventus some time to get back to that point after the Calciopoli scandal.

It’s obviously massive for Juventus in terms of the club’s global branding, but it’s also very big for Serie A in that it raises the league’s profile.

It gives a massive shot in the arm to Serie A, because before it happened you’d have thought that no Italian team had the bravado to go out and sign Ronaldo.

There’s a feeling of a rising tide within Italian football with this signing. You have to think there’s going to be more eyeballs on the league worldwide. People just don’t watch games on TV anymore, they also watch on social media. So, every time Juventus plays now, if Ronaldo is going to be on the pitch, it’s a chance for Serie A to generate a little bit more awareness about its product. Everything he does will be followed and tracked, so that’s going to be a boon for Serie A.

Tactically, how do you see Ronaldo being deployed by manager Massimiliano Allegri? How will he fit into Juve’s system?
What we’ve seen from Allegri in the past is that there’s an evolution. He’ll start with one plan in pre-season and he’ll tweak it as the campaign goes on, and won’t really settle on something until December or January. I’d be surprised if that was any different this time around. The early indications we’ve had [from this pre-season] is that it’ll be 4-4-2, with Paulo Dybala playing alongside Ronaldo up front. But it’s a very open interpretation of his attacking role; it’s not going to be a classic 4-4-2. Ronaldo is going to do what he does, which is to drift towards the left and be given a lot of freedom.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 4-2-3-1 at some point, because that will give opportunities to players such as Douglas Costa to play in an advanced position on the right, and Allegri can bring in Mario Mandzukic on the left easier than he could in a 4-4-2. They have so many options up front, so many attacking players of quality, that there’s going to be variations in formations. And being realistic, I don’t think Ronaldo is going to play every single game in Serie A like he did at Real Madrid, because there’s going to be such a focus on winning the Champions League.

Will the success of this transfer move be entirely measured by whether Juventus can win the Champions League?

I don’t think entirely, no. His value to the club in terms of marketing and branding is probably more important. If Juventus doesn’t win the Champions League and Ronaldo leaves, they’ll likely still bring in massive amounts of revenue and turn a large profit. If they can do that but don’t win the Champions League while he’s there, Juventus will call that a success, without question. That’ll be a big business success.

But at the same time, Juventus aren’t hiding from the fact that they want to win the Champions League this season. [Club president] Andrea Agnelli has talked to the players about not being afraid to stand forward and say that they want to win the Champions League. Allegri has said the same thing. He’s not saying if they don’t do it than this is complete failure, but there’s no more shy, coy meandering – “Oh, if it happens, that’s great.” They’ve come out and said they want to win it, and Juventus has zero reason to have an inferiority complex about winning it.

Should there be any concern over how this effects the competiveness in Serie A? Ronaldo’s signing with Juve comes on the heels of the Bianconeri winning seven straight league titles and four straight league and cup doubles. Does any other Serie A club have a chance of ending that run this season? Does Ronaldo tip the odds even more in Juventus’ favour?

I personally don’t see it. Last season, Juventus earned 95 points in Serie A, so there’s really not that much room for improvement to be honest with you. I don’t see it changing that much on that front. Keep in mind, Napoli had 91 points last season, a club record, and good enough to win the league anywhere in Europe. So, I don’t see how Ronaldo potentially scoring a few more goals than Gonzalo Higuain [sent on loan from Juventus to AC Milan] makes the title race that much easier for Juve, in terms of points accrued.

I think there’s a cluster of teams who can make things interesting atop the Serie A table. Inter Milan is probably the most likely to challenge Juventus, but I don’t see any team usurping Juve. None of them are quite as far ahead of what Napoli did last season, but it’s not the Ronaldo signing that changes that for me.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.