THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
Swagger and stardust, chest puffed out, a blur of flashing cameras — the world’s finest footballer holds court
The Old Lady of Turin now has her mature gentleman. As Cristiano Ronaldo took his seat amid a blur of flashing cameras and twitching smartphones, he momentarily glanced backwards and smiled.
This was the world’s greatest footballer in his element and the message was clear: the World Cup is over, so all eyes are on Ronaldo once more.
Juventus made an almighty fuss of their new man, with his chestpuffedout, arms- stretched-wide celebration mocked up as a silhouette on canvases inside and outside the Allianz Stadium. The club launched the social media hashtag #CR7DAY to mark his unveiling.
Ronaldo has already claimed the No 7 shirt he wore with distinction at Real Madrid and Manchester United, with Juan Cuadrado swiftly ceding the jersey to the new king of Turin.
After landing at Turin’s Caselle airport by private jet on Sunday, the euphoria began in earnest yesterday morning. As Ronaldo arrived at the club’s on-site facility to complete a medical, he was greeted by thousands of supporters. he stopped to sign photographs for young children and broke out into his own howls of ‘Juve, Juve!’
The more sanguine Italian journalists did privately question the wisdom of a four-year contract reportedly worth £500,000 per week and the move has not been greeted with glee in all quarters.
The Juventus hierarchy became concerned last week when a strike was called by a union of workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in protest at the numbers involved. Both Juventus and Fiat Chrysler are run by the Agnelli family, who have committed £100million to this transfer, with an extra £200m to be invested in Ronaldo’s salary.
The USB union said last week: ‘It is unacceptable that, while FCA workers continue to make economic sacrifices, the company spends hundreds of millions on the purchase of a player.’
Yet when the strike was due to begin in the last two days, only 0.3 per cent of the 1,700 workforce actually downed tools.
Certainly there was swagger and stardust yesterday. As glamorous women served drinks and canapes for media representatives from over 30 different countries, this was a family affair for Ronaldo.
his angelic son Cristiano Jnr sat on the front row, dressed in daddy’s new jersey, besides the agent Jorge Mendes and Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.
At the club’s store, replica jerseys sold at a rate of one a minute last week and the turnover yesterday seemed equally relentless. An adult Juventus shirt with Ronaldo’s name set supporters back in excess of €100 (£88.50), while the full kit for a toddler came in at a similar amount. Such sights usually trigger laments for a bygone era but the mania is such that few appeared to care. Similarly, any discontent over a 30 per cent rise in season-ticket prices also swiftly disappeared with news of Ronaldo’s transfer.
This is a statement signing by Juventus. It has been a long wait. The club first made a move for Ronaldo (right) in 2002 but could not persuade striker Marcelo Salas to head to Sporting Lisbon in return. Sir Alex Ferguson intervened a year later. Yet Real Madrid consider this spectacular business of their own. They bought Ronaldo for £80m nine years ago from Manchester United and he has returned a transfer profit in addition to 451 goals and four Champions League titles. Ronaldo is 33 but says he has a biological age of 23 and insists he will play on for his country. he scored 28 goals between late January and the middle of May, including three against PSG, three against Juventus, plus goals against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. For Portugal, he scored a hat-trick against Spain’s David de Gea at the World Cup and also recorded the fastest sprint of any player in Russia. The last time he appeared at this stadium, he scored the spellbinding overhead kick to floor Gianluigi Buffon and earn a standing ovation from opposing fans. Simply put, there are no palpable signs of his powers waning. ‘I’m different to all the others who go to China or Qatar at my age,’ said Ronaldo. ‘I am different. I will try and show I am a