Ronaldo joining Napoli in January is absolute BULL****
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 4 min read
As a general rule of thumb, when an unnamed source is quoted as saying something about the transfer market, that quote is at best bulls*** or at worst completely made up.
That is the case with The Sun’s hilarious story this week pushing Cristiano Ronaldo to Napoli in January.
“Arsenal and Newcastle realise the quality Ronaldo would bring in helping them to achieve their ambitions,” an unnamed source told the Sun.
Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23
“But both clubs worry about the wider impact his arrival could have on the clubs.
“The most likely destination now is Italy. Napoli were interested in Ronaldo over the summer and are still keen.
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“Adding him to their squad is a step they believe will help in their aim to remain top of Serie A and to progress through the Champions League.”
Anyone with even a basic understanding of Italian football know that this transfer is impossible.
Napoli are on absolute fire this season. They have been the standout team not only in Serie A but in all of Europe.
They are top of the table in Italy with nine wins and two draws from their 11 games.
They have four wins out of four in the Champions League, scoring more goals than anyone in the competition – including thumping Liverpool 4-1.
They are unbeaten in all 15 games in all competitions in 2022-23, scoring a stunning 43 goals.
Napoli boast an incredible depth in attack, with six top attackers competing for three positions in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, Hirving Lozano, Gianluca Raspadori, Matteo Politano and Giovanni Simeone.
Ronaldo has complained about being on the bench at Man Utd. Well he would be lucky to even make the bench at Napoli because both Osimhen and Raspadori are superior to him in the number nine position right now.
Napoli don’t need Ronaldo
The Partenopei do not need another attacker. If anything they are overstacked in the forward positions, with Italy international Alessio Zerbi a seventh option who will probably be loaned out in January to get game-time.
They also don’t need an ageing primadonna rocking the boat.
The 37-year-old would damage the team dynamic of Luciano Spalletti’s side.
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.
The biggest positive from offloading club legends Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens – as well as Fabian Ruiz – this past 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 – if not the present already.
In full flow, Napoli have been a whirlwind. Signing Ronaldo would be a regressive step in terms of Napoli’s improved modern brand of football.
Spalletti and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis know this.
Ronaldo too expensive
Financially the transfer is impossible, too.
De Laurentiis spent the summer massively reducing the wage bill by releasing the likes of Insigne, Mertens and Koulibaly (pictured below). He has spoken about having a lower wage ceiling and that the times being over where he would pay big salaries.
Well, Ronaldo earns €30 million a year. Even if he took a pay cut of 75 per cent, he would still be too expensive for De Laurentiis.
De Laurentiis also has a notorious policy of not wanting to sign over-30 players. He infamously refused to allow Neapolitan legend Fabio Cannavaro to rejoin when he was starring at Real Madrid because he was 34/35. Ronaldo will soon turn 38.
This is a deal that is never going to happen. Just like all stories with quotes from unnamed sources, this transfer report is bulls***.
