"Cristiano? Bayern wouldn't pay 117m euros for a 33-year-old"
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the Bundesliga giant's chairman, believes that the Portugal captain's move to Juventus was a marketing coup.
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has congratulated Juventus on the capture of former Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo but also stated his belief that the transfer has as much to do with marketing as sporting matters.
Ronaldo completed a 117-million-euro move to Turin in July after eight seasons at the Bernabéu and Rummenigge highlighted the Portugal captain’s age when discussing the deal with Bavarian media outlet TZ.
Rummenigge: "Marketing questions have played a huge role"
“The signing of Cristiano is the one that has grabbed most attention and I understand that. He is a player who has won everything at Real Madrid in the last few years. For the past five years he has been the best player in the world. Marketing questions have played a huge role in this move, but Bayern would not invest so much money on a player who is 33 years old,” Rummenigge said.
“I was surprised that my counterpart Andrea Agnelli decided to get involved in this deal,” the former Germany striker added. “In Italy it has drawn a lot of praise. From Juventus’ point of view the signing makes sense; Italian football has lost ground in recent years. With this huge operation, the Italians hope to gain the attention of the football world again.”
