Buying Ronaldo not smart move by Juventus: Napoli president

Signing veteran Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is a risk that Juventus took, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said, adding he would not be doing the same.

The 33-year-old Portugal captain left Real Madrid to join Juventus this summer for an Italian record transfer fee of 112 million euros ($131.4 million).

The five-time World Player of the Year has signed a four-year contract with the record Italian football champions and will reportedly earn a net salary of 31 million euros ($36.38 million) per season.

"Spending so much money for a player at the end of his career is dangerous," De Laurentiis was quoted as saying by Mediaset's Canale 5 on Monday.

"Let's not forget, (Ronaldo) has a certain age and in terms of the club's balance sheet, they have taken a gamble," he added.

To date, Ronaldo has won in total five league titles, five domestic cups, five Champions Leagues, four Club World Cups, two European Super Cups, two domestic Supercups, in addition to winning the Balon d'Or five times.

Napoli were first offered the chance to sign Portugal star Ronaldo but De Laurentiis said the accounting did not make sense for his club.

"Let's see if in the end, the commercial success of the group will be greater than their sporting success," he said.

In the 2017-18 Serie A season, Napoli came closest to topple Juventus but the Turin powerhouse managed to win the league title for the record seventh consecutive time.

And Ronaldo's move is expected to be a major boost for Juventus, who have dominated the Italian league in recent years. They have also reached the Champions League final twice in the last four years, finishing runners-up on both occasions.

--IANS

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