Former Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta believes signing Cristiano Ronaldo was a mistake

Cristiano Ronaldo’s spell in Italy with Juventus didn’t quite go according to plan. On 10 July 2018, the Portuguese star sprung something of a surprise by leaving Real Madrid for The Old Lady, who broke the bank to get the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Then 33, Ronaldo was lauded by Juve as “the signing of the century” and was seen to be the man to break their Champions League jinx (the Italians had two lost finals in the previous four years and seven of nine finals overall).

Domestic success, Champions League failure

Although the Portugal captain scored 81 goals in 97 games in three seasons and led the team to the Serie A title in his first two years in Italy, Ronaldo’s Juventus failed to get past the Champions League quarter-finals and his last season was fairly disastrous, with the Turin giants, who had won nine league titles in a row, finishing fourth.

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After making one appearance for the club in 2021-22, the forward left to rejoin Manchester United, an inevitable end to a messy breakup. Ronaldo took Juventus court in attempt to reclaim part of his salary (circa €19 million/$20.64 million) that was suspended by the Italian club at the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

Ronaldo contribution “didn’t correspond to high expecations”

Two and a half years after his exit, and with the now 38-year-old having moved on to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr after another acrimonious departure from United, former Juventus CEO and General Manager for Sport Giuseppe Marotta believes signing Ronaldo was a mistake.

“The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for Juventus didn’t yield the expected results. Let’s just say his contribution didn’t correspond to the high expectations we had when he arrived,” said Marotta, who now works as CEO for sport for Juve’s rivals, Inter.

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The pros and cons of Ronaldo at Juventus

Ronaldo won five trophies (two Serie A titles, two Italian Super Cups and one Coppa Italia) in three seasons in Italy and netted 101 goals in 134 appearances in all competitions. However, Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso has claimed Juventus’ subsequent financial problems were caused by the attacker’s wages, while former teammate Gianluigi Buffon believes they lost their “team DNA” after his arrival.

Juve’s last trophy came at the end of the 2020-21 season, when they won the Coppa Italia with Ronaldo in the team.

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