The great Christiano Ronaldo, now 33-years-old, is on his way to Juventus. Already, the signing has brought massive hope. It’s also brought massive criticism. Before getting into how the Ronaldo signing affects Real Madrid and Juventus and the Champions League odds, we take a deep dive into the deal.
Ronaldo is On His Way to Juventus
Per the BBC, the deal between Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s former employers, and Juventus is 112 million euros. The transfer fee translates to 99.2 million British pounds. Sounds like a lot, right? It could be because Ronaldo is 33-years-old. Paris St-Germain paid 200 million British pounds for Neymar to transfer from Barcelona last August. PSG also paid 166 million British pounds for Kylian Mbappe, one of the stars of this year’s World Cup, to stay at Paris St-Germain after they received him on loan. Barcelona paid 142 million pounds for Philipe Cutinho. Heck, Juventus paid 75.3 million pounds for Gonzalo Higuain to transfer from Napoli. Nobody will ever confuse Higuain with Ronaldo. But, this is European footie, which means any move, even one placed in perspective, is bound to draw criticism. Workers at a Fiat plant in Italy will strike from this Sunday to next Tuesday. They don’t believe Fiat Chrysler, whose ownership group also owns Juventus, should have paid so much for an aging superstar soccer player. Definitely read that article when you get a chance. Now, let’s turn our attention to Real Madrid and Juventus. Will Real Madrid’s chances of winning the Champions League change without Ronaldo? Will Juventus’ chances of winning the Champions League increase for the better with Christiano on board?Real Madrid
Goal.com writer Ben Hayward believes that Los Blancos will replace Ronaldo with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, or Eden Hazard. Of the 3, Mbappe would be a huge home run. He’s young, fast, and exciting with or without the ball. He’s got moves that’s rare for any player, much less one at his age. Mbappe might already be the best player in the world. That means acquiring him could be the most difficult for Real Madrid to pull off. Real might not even go after Neymar. There doesn’t appear to be much reason to do so. Neymar’s had injury issues the past couple of seasons. He’s injury prone. Even if he ends up in a Real Madrid jersey, what’s the point if he doesn’t get onto the pitch? Hazard could make Real Madrid dangerous. He’s more of a passing forward than anything else. That could lead to some awesome play among Hazard, Benzema, and Bale. Real Madrid might just stay pat and go with Asencio. Why not? He’s young enough to become one of the best players in the world while Benzema and Bale will benefit from his youth. No matter what Los Blancos does, they won’t have trouble challenging Barcelona for the La Liga Championship. They should also be Champions League contenders. This is Real Madrid. When they lose a player, they just reload either internally or from outside.
