Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus last month but Bayern Munich would not have spent so much money on the forward.
That’s according to Allianz Arena chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who says he was made aware of Ronaldo’s availability by his agent, Jorge Mendes.
Ronaldo hinted after May’s Champions League final win over Liverpool that he was considering calling time on his Real Madrid career.
And he followed through with his desires last month by sealing a £100m (€112m) move to reign Serie A champions Juventus.
Ronaldo’s mega-bucks switch to Italy came as something of a surprise given he is approaching an age where footballers usually wind down.
Bayern chairman Rummenigge says his club would not have splashed out the joint—sixth-biggest transfer fee in history on the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“It’s the transfer that has received the most attention so far. And I understand that,” Rummenigge told German newspaper Tz.
“This is about a player who has won everything with Real in the past few years. He has been voted the best player in the world five times, so, all in all, he is a great footballer.
“Marketing has certainly played a big role in this transfer. Nevertheless, we at Bayern Munich would not invest so much money in a 33-year-old.”
Leonardo is no stranger to outrageous proposals. He certainly took Anna Billo completely by surprise when he asked the Sky Sport Italia presenter to marry him live on TV in March 2013.
A stunned and embarrassed Billo didn’t say yes there and then; she required some convincing. However, the pair wed just six months later.
The Brazilian’s impressive powers of persuasion have generated headlines again this summer. Many Milan fans were upset when it was confirmed last Wednesday that he was to return to San Siro as the club’s new sporting director.
This, after all, was the same man who had both played for and coached the Rossoneri only to then take charge of city rivals Inter, in December 2010. Eight years may have passed but some supporters still saw that as an act of betrayal.
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However, the fan unrest has quickly dissipated, after the belated acceptance of another outrageous proposal.
After just one week in his new job, Leonardo has masterminded an incredible deal that will see Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara move to Milan in exchange for Leonardo Bonucci and €18 million.
It is a truly remarkable piece of business for a club left shrouded in uncertainty after their previous owners, Li Yonghong’s Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux., were forced to hand over control to the Elliott Management Corporation due to their inability to meet loan repayment deadlines.
With what is essentially one big, convoluted swap deal, Leonardo is addressing Milan’s glaring need for a proven goalscorer in acquiring Higuain and paving the way for the two best young centre-halves in Italy, Caldara and Alessio Romagnoli, to play alongside one another at the Giuseppe Meazza.
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The Rossoneri faithful don’t just have their prodigal son to thank for this surprising turn of events, even though it was the smooth-talking, multi-lingual Leonardo who also resolved Higuain’s initial reluctance to leave Turin, and now the only outstanding issues are personal terms and the forward’s desire for the transfer to be made permanent this summer rather than next.
The Portuguese superstar’s shock summer switch to Juventus in a deal worth an overall €340 million in terms of fees and wages created a need to balance the books in Turin.
As the Bianconeri’s highest earner before Ronaldo’s arrival, Higuain was always the man most likely to make way, given his exit would not only raise the most money, but also allow Ronaldo to take centre stage in Turin.
Essentially, it made both sporting and financial sense, as an €18 million loan fee, with a view to a permanent transfer next summer for an additional €36m, represents excellent value for a 30-year-old striker.
Milan are also happy with their lot, though, in light of Andre Silva and Nikola Kalinic’s struggles in Serie A last season. Indeed, this feels like one of those rare deals that suits both parties; a win-win situation.
However, Juve’s decision to agree to a straight swap involving Caldara and Bonucci – with both having been valued at €40m – is puzzling.
Make no mistake about it: this is an unusually risky move by Beppe Marotta, one of the transfer market’s shrewdest operators.
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The 24-year-old Caldara had only just arrived in Turin. He was signed from Atalanta for an initial €16m in January 2017 before being allowed to stay on loan in Bergamo for another 18 months in order to develop.
The transfer was a necessary injection of youth into an ageing backline with a player that had racked up more goals, made more recoveries, and won more tackles and duels than Bonucci in Serie A last season – despite playing 11 games fewer.
Granted, Juventus have ultimately decided against selling Daniele Rugani to Chelsea but the former Empoli starlet, also 24, is now facing another frustrating season on the sidelines, as Bonucci will go straight back into the Bianconeri defence.
As if the Ronaldo deal wasn’t evidence enough of the Old Lady’s lofty ambitions, this swap deal hammers home that Juventus have one sole objective for the coming campaign: to win the Champions League.
That is what the Bianconeri want at all costs; and that is what Ronaldo wants at all costs. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner certainly did not come to Italy to help Juve win an eighth successive Scudetto.
He came to try to enhance his legacy, to become only the second player to win the Champions League with three different clubs.
Both Ronaldo and Juve feel that this will only be possible if the forward is surrounded by a team of proven performers, seasoned campaigners with a winning mentality.
That is why Bonucci has been brought back; and why he wanted to come back. Despite the acrimonious nature of his exit just one year ago, it seems as if both parties have realised that they were better together.
Juve recorded another domestic double last season but they were not quite as solid as in previous years and also missed his excellent distribution, while Bonucci himself endured a horribly erratic 2017-18 campaign that mirrored Milan’s fluctuating fortunes.