With Beckham Gone, Ronaldo Searches for a Shock! Move of His Own
By: Martha | January 12th, 2007
Though my newshound, football-ignoring brother assured me last night that Ronaldo will soon be following Real Madrid teammate David Beckham to the US, the Italian press seem to think otherwise — for a few hours, at least, they’ve become convinced the tubby striker will land in Italy this summer, swaddled lovingly in black and white. Yes, that’s right: He’s going to Juve.
Fabio Capello is sick of his ass and Milan, once seen as Rolando’s mostly likely Italian destination, is determinedly not in the running, at least according to the club’s sub-kingpin, Adriano Galliani. Which leaves, it seems, Juve. According to a nearly unbelievable report in a Turin newspaper, the club would theoretically be able to afford the player’s (hideously bloated) asking price through a financial arrangement with … Nike. See, Nike are a sponsor of Juve and also have a deal with Ronaldo, so having him playing in Turin would be a perfect marketing storm. Or something. Has a sponsor every become involved in the specifics of player acquisition in a major league? I know the money from sponsorship deals often goes to pay for players, but I can’t remember, say, Vodafone ever stepping in and buying Man U a player. The possibility is frankly both terrifying and potentially awesome — small clubs with powerful sponsors could suddenly find themselves positioned to significantly increase their profiles with very limited out-of-pocket expenses.
That said, of course, this whole thing was probably made up anyway, and right now Nike execs in Europe are firing publicists and browbeating ambitious reporters.
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I love how it looks like Ronaldo is “fuming” in the picture. Good work!
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