Milan: Mr Li wanted Ronaldo at all costs

Marco Fassone, former sports director of Serie A club AC Milan, has revealed that the Rossoneri superstar Cristiano Ronaldo were planning to pilot Ronaldo to Italy in 2017.

“It was clear to Mr Li (then investor Milans) that he wanted Ronaldo at all costs and insisted on it. We talked to Jorge Mendes (Ronaldo’s advisor, editor’s note) about this, because Cristiano was ready to leave Real Madrid. Milan is a world-famous club – he liked it. The problem was that the deal could not be financed, which is why we internally decided not to do so,” Fassone revealed in an interview with TV station Sportitalia.

According to this, the Portuguese had already thought about emigrating a year before his transfer from Madrid to Italy – Juventus secured the services of CR7 in the summer of 2018.

Because the Rossoneri hired Leonardo Bonucci for 42 million euros in 2017, the financial resources for Ronaldo were no longer sufficient. “It was wrong to take Bonucci from Juventus. We had a budget of more than 70 million for the best striker in the world, but when the opportunity arose to sign Bonucci, Vincenzo Montella (Milan’s then coach) was convinced that it was better to put the money on the defensive,” Fassone continued.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus won the Italian championship last season. CR7 scored 28 hits and ten templates in 43 compulsory games.