Juventus signed a deal with Real Madrid to acquire, for a fee of €100m, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was considered to be out of the reach of any Italian teams, even if he has passed his peak, however, Juventus seems to have a pretty clear business plan.
In 2006, the Bianconeri were downgraded to Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli scandal, but in 2012 they were once again champions of Italy once more, and they kept on growing. They claimed 7 consecutive league titles and reached the final of the Champions League in two of the past four years, without, however, managing to win them. In fact, it is since 1996 that they do not win Europe’s top prize.
With the 33-year-old five-time World Player of the Year, 2018 Ballon d’Or, and top scorer in the Champions League for the last six seasons, Juventus counts on being able to become once again European champion. Indeed, the Italian club’s concern has been that it would be limited by the fact that it competes in Serie A, whose international brand has always been lagging behind those of La Liga and the Premier League, but with the arrival of Ronaldo, the whole Italian football will certainly enjoy renewed visibility and consideration.
Notwithstanding, the €30m annual salary that will be paid to Ronaldo, Juventus confidence in this move is proven by the fact that the management increased next season’s tickets price by 30% compared with those of last year’s ones, from which it made €25.7m. But Ronaldo had already started to have an impact on Juventus’s finances even before the deal was done; so much that just the rumors of his impending arrival caused the club’s share price to soar determining for Juventus’s market valuation to rise, as noted by Secolo XIX, from €665m to €815m.
Ilona Catani Scarlett