Reports have emerged over the past 24 hours that Barcelona could be planning an audacious summer move for Juventus and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Photo via Sports Illustrated
There has yet to be any official confirmation, but on paper this could prove to be a major coup by Barca to put Ronaldo alongside Lionel Messi - two of arguably the best footballers on the planet.
In reality, however, a Ronaldo move to the Nou Camp would not be the best idea (even before you get into whether he would be a good tactical fit for the team). Here are three reasons why:
Barcelona can’t afford it.
Barcelona are currently 1.1 billion pounds in debt and are in no position to be making any big-money signings at the moment.
Juventus have yet to name their price for Ronaldo, but it is safe to say he won’t come cheap. His wages, estimated to average out to 900 thousand pounds per week, are another stumbling block.
There have been rumours that Barca could offload up to two players to help pay Ronaldo’s salary, but even this would be a risky venture for a club in Barcelona’s financial position.
The Barcelona supporters may not want him.
Photo via Reuters
Ronaldo is a former player of Barca’s bitter local rivals Real Madrid, and one cannot underestimate the animosity between these two sides.
Luis Figo found out the hard way – he would regularly receive abuse from his own supporters after joining Madrid from Barca in the early 2000’s.
This is not to say that a player needs to be a fan-favourite in order to be successful, but it is hard to imagine Ronaldo would want to move to a club where his own supporters dislike him.
Also bear in mind that Ronaldo has built (and thrived) on his image of being well-loved at every club he plays for.
The potential clash of egos with Messi.
Photo via Getty Images
It is well-known that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not on friendly terms with each other. At best, they maintain a professional relationship.
Much of this stems from the fact that these two are constantly pitted against each other in the battle for the title of greatest footballer in the world.
Both are also the ‘alpha dogs’ of whichever team they play for – the long-serving Messi is ‘Mr. Barcelona’…while Ronaldo always gets top billing, whether its for Portugal, Juventus, Real Madrid or Man United.
So to have these two players side by side on the same team, sharing the limelight, is almost unthinkable. It may not be impossible (weirder things have happened in football), but it does seem unlikely.
By: Nicholas Darren John
