After being unveiled as a Juventus player following his move from Real Madrid, ESPN take a look at how Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Turin unfolded.
Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo admitted he joined the Italian club as he wanted to challenge himself again and insists he win just as many trophies in Italy.
Jose Mourinho believes Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus is going to make Serie A more appealing — as long as other clubs continue to challenge their dominance.
Ronaldo joined Juve in a league-record transfer worth €112 million, strengthening a side that have already won the past seven Serie A titles.
Mourinho was the last coach to lead a side other than Juve to the title, guiding Inter Milan to a historic league, cup and Champions League treble in 2010, and he congratulated Juve on their signing.
“The Premier League is the most competitive league right now, but a lot of people are going to be watching Serie A for Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain for [Lionel] Messi,” he told TeleRadioStereo. “Serie A has now become one of the best leagues in the world.
“In football, anything can change. If Inter, Napoli, Roma and AC Milan change their views, as long as they don’t just passively accept that Juve are now stronger with Ronaldo, then [the league] can change in terms of quality, emotions and attention. This is why I compliment Juve for this signing, which is great for them in terms of football, publicity and marketing.”
Juve have reached the final of the Champions League twice in the past four years and Roma reached the semifinal last season.
UEFA’s changes to the competition format means four Italian sides will be in the group stage in the coming season, including Inter — a side Mourinho would be happy to meet with Manchester United in the group stage.
“I’d like to come back [to Italy] to play in the Champions League,” he said. “Maybe it will happen in the group stage, against Inter or Juve.”
Both teams could be possible opponents, as United will be in pot two when the group stage draw is made next month, with Juve in pot one and Inter provisionally in pot four. Roma, however, will be seeded in the same pot as United.
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