Cristiano Ronaldo would DESTROY Napoli
Carlo Garganese
- 30 Aug 2022 11:35 BST
- 5 min read
There are less than three days left before the summer transfer window closes and the biggest question that remains is: will Cristiano Ronaldo leave Manchester United?
The Portuguese legend’s agent Jorge Mendes is still desperately trying to find his client a new club, having failed all summer to generate any concrete interest.
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The teams that Mendes believes he is most likely to convince to sign Ronaldo is Napoli.
Ronaldo has given the all-clear to move to Campania as they can offer him the Champions League football that he is demanding from his next club.
From a financial point of view, this transfer would represent incredible business for Napoli.
Will Ronaldo move to Napoli?
To make the deal happen, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is demanding that Man Utd pay over €100 million for Victor Osimhen in addition to sending Ronaldo the other way on a free one-year loan in which the Premier League side contribute 100 per cent of his salary.
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But from a sporting and tactical point of view, this is a swap deal that Napoli are best advised to steer clear from.
For starters, as crazy as it may sound, Ronaldo is a downgrade on Osimhen. The Nigerian is arguably the best number nine in Serie A along with Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic.
Providing he can stay fit – which has been an issue in the last two seasons – the 23-year-old is the complete attacker. He boasts incredible physical prowess, aerial ability and finishing. And unlike Ronaldo, he has lightning pace, presses ferociously from the front and works tirelessly for the team.
I know it’s probably not going to happen, but you don’t realise how much I need this pic.twitter.com/prgdRSi2sP
— Casey Evans (@Casey_Evans_) August 30, 2022
Expanding on this latter point, swapping Ronaldo for Osimhen would damage the team dynamic of this Napoli side.
Luciano Spalletti’s side have been the standout team in Serie A in these three opening matchdays.
They have demonstrated an intensity and high press unlike any other side in Italy. As we have seen at Man Utd and at Juventus before that, Ronaldo prevents his teams from being able to press high, win the ball back quickly and move as a unit. Out of possession and in defensive phases, it is like playing with 10 men having Ronaldo in your team.
While, even at 37, Ronaldo will guarantee goals and he will also bring experience and a winning mentality that Napoli lack, they will lose something collectively.
The biggest positive from offloading club legends Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens – as well as Fabian Ruiz – this summer is that Napoli replaced them with faster and more intense players. The Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, in particular, has been a revelation since joining from Dinamo Batumi and looks like a superstar of the future.
In full flow, Napoli have been a whirlwind. But signing Ronaldo – and losing Osimhen – will be a regressive step in terms of Napoli’s improved modern brand of football.
Ronaldo to Napoli can't be ruled out
And yet this is a transfer that can’t be ruled out. De Laurentiis – as well as being someone who knows the value of a great economic deal – is also something of a showman.
De Laurentiis is the kind of person who would like nothing more than to go down in history as the president who brought Cristiano Ronaldo – one of the greatest players of all time – to Napoli.
🚨 Jorge Mendes has now offered Napoli the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo on a free loan and the proposal does not involve Manchester United signing Victor Osimhen.
(Source: Il Mattino) pic.twitter.com/TH4RJDfJVg— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 30, 2022
Regardless of how well Ronaldo or Napoli perform, this would be a legacy-making signing that will be remembered forever.
De Laurentiis is now 73 and if he can sign Ronaldo for nothing, the Italian’s head may be ruled by his heart – or more so by his ego. He is a movie producer after all, and he probably has half an eye on the commercial benefits of having Cristiano around, too.
Can you imagine what Ronaldo’s unveiling will be like? With De Laurentiis organising it, it would be comparable to Diego Maradona’s legendary keepie-uppie show in 1984.
So don’t be too surprised if Napoli sign Ronaldo, even if it would be a big mistake.
