De Laurentiis: ‘CR7 is propaganda’

By Football Italia staff

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis calls Juventus’ signing of Cristiano Ronaldo a “propaganda move”, and aims another swipe at Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri.

The Bianconeri have signed the Portuguese superstar in a €100m deal from Real Madrid, and the Partenopei have claimed they were also in for CR7.

“Juventus have done a beautiful propaganda move for the whole FCA Group,” De Laurentiis told La Verita.

“So I hope it can help to mask the drop in enthusiasm there would have been among the fans if [Coach Max] Allegri had just been reconfirmed without a big signing.

“After seven titles in a row, what could be promised to the fans to intrigue and excite them, and do the same with the sponsors and the world of industry and politics?

“I recognise that the club found a great ‘script’ to relaunch the Juventus image - chapeau!

“Ronaldo has perhaps the most intelligent agent in sports [Jorge Mendes] by his side. I went for breakfast with him in Portugal and we talked about Rui Patricio.

“Then, when it was clear that Real would let CR7 leave he phoned me: ‘listen, Aurelio, can we play this game?'

“I imagined a model where the revenues were mirrored exactly to the cost of the deal.

“I said to Mendes: ‘You say that Ronaldo will make me rich? Well, let’s say the first €250m in turnover belongs to Napoli and the next €100m to Ronaldo’.

“If he’d actually brought that in he’d have nothing to risk and nothing to fear. In that way CR7 would have been paid off on his own, but then Juventus came in and raised the stakes.

“In terms of marketing at least the whole Italian league has been strengthened, not just Juventus.

“There’s a big gap between saying ‘chapeau’ and winning the league and Champions League though.

“Ronaldo is of a certain age and in terms of the club it’s dangerous to spend so much money on one player at the end of his career; paying a salary which is outside of any standard.

“I wonder if commercial or sporting success will come out on top. If you start paying absurd salaries, sooner or later it’ll come back and bite you.”

De Laurentiis has repeatedly criticised former Coach Maurizio Sarri, who has joined Chelsea, and once again he didn’t hold back.

“I only allowed Sarri to go to Chelsea after signing a written pact with him: don’t go for any of our players, except Jorginho.

“There was a fight with no exchanging of blows - or only partially - to take some of our other players but they didn’t succeed. Then they signed a non-belligerence pact.

“My problems with Sarri? If you have players with a €60m release clause and you don’t play them you damage yourself and the team.

“You end up going out of the cup competitions because no-one can fight on two fronts with 11 or 12 starters.

“You can’t declare that you’re abandoning [Europe] in the media. I rebuked Sarri and he tried to go and play in Leipzig after losing 3-1 at home, but it was too late.

“I realised it was over when he told me: ‘I don’t know if I can do better with these players’. Sarri had reached the stage where a Coach thinks about himself or tries to earn himself a golden pension.

“I asked him what he wanted to do this year right up to the last game, but he didn’t answer. I noted a certain rudeness in that silence, but I wasn’t offended.”

Yet just last season De Laurentiis was describing his Coach as a genius…

“True, but his genius is a bit monothematic. I only ever saw him play one way, let’s see what he does in England.

“Over the past six years he’s matured more that in the previous 30. A complete Coach not only enterains, but also has to win.”

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