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Cristiano Ronaldo Questions Transfer Fees: 'Any Player Can Go for €100M'
August 21, 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo has said he doesn't agree with the current escalation in transfer fees as "any player can go for €100 million, even without showing anything."
The Portuguese superstar broke new ground in 2009 when Real Madrid paid £80 million to sign him from Manchester United, smashing the world record transfer fee.
At the time, it was an astonishing fee, but when he was then sold to Juventus for £99.2 million last summer, it was not even half the world-record £200 million Paris Saint-Germain paid to sign Neymar from Barcelona in 2017.
Ronaldo's compatriot, 19-year-old Joao Felix, became one of the world's most expensive players earlier this summer when Atletico Madrid paid €126 million (£113 million) to sign him from Benfica:
The Juventus star clearly believes Felix was worth the money, but he has questioned how the current market operates, per TVI (h/t Marca):
"It's difficult to make calculations in modern football. [Clubs] gamble a lot on potential and the football industry is different. Leaving the case of Joao Felix to the side, any player can go for €100 million, even without showing anything. There is more money in football. A centre-back and a goalkeeper can go for €70 or €80 million. I don't agree [with it], but it's the world that we live in and you have to respect it."
Asked how much he believes he would be worth now if he was 25, Ronaldo predicted a fee of up to €300 million (£274 million), per TVI (h/t AS):
"If a goalkeeper is worth €75 million, a player who has done what I had must be worth three to four times more. Easy. But I have no such illusion."
Ronaldo, 34, will begin his second campaign as a Juve player on Saturday when the Serie A champions visit Parma.
It will be the Old Lady's first competitive fixture under new manager Maurizio Sarri, although the former Chelsea boss may be absent after being diagnosed with pneumonia:
Juve have won the last eight Serie A titles and go into the 2019-20 season as strong favourites to make it nine in a row.
Perhaps more significantly, though, they will be aiming to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1996.
Ronaldo is a five-time winner of the famous trophy and will be crucial to Juventus' prospects in the competition in the new campaign.
Sarri's squad has also been boosted this summer by the £67.8 million purchase of 20-year-old Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax, as well as midfielders Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey on free transfers.