Silvio Berlusconi as the owner of AC Milan always wanted to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Milan. His ambition to recruit the Portuguese star has been around since CR7 was still a Manchester United player, and continued until 2012, when he realized the Rossoneri's financial condition would not allow him to buy the star.
When news of Cristiano Ronaldo's sensational transfer to Juventus first appeared in the summer of 2018, Silvio Berlusconi quickly congratulated the Bianconeri on their surprise move, acknowledging that the deal would benefit "all Italian football."
Ronaldo is indeed a great player who would benefit all Italian football. He is more than just a player, he is a brand, a big brand in football. His move to Juventus alone would attract million of people to watch Serie A again. Judging by how fast his jersey sold out is an indicator that Ronaldo is a big brand in football. Many great players come to England and Spain, but Ronaldo chose Italy, that's definitely a great news for Italian football.
However, Berlusconi acknowledged that "as a Milan fan, that would have a terrible impact." Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Turin is a bad news for a man, who for years dreamed of bringing in the Portuguese superstar to AC Milan.
Berlusconi has long been known as an admirer of Ronaldo as long as the agile winger is still playing at Manchester United. He even warned his players ahead of the 2007 Champions League semi-final. The Rossoneri players have to turn off this extraordinary "Cristiano Ronaldo" if they want to win, he said at the time.
Berlusconi was captivated by the idea of playing Kaka on the same team as Ronaldo, and that happened two years later. At Real Madrid, not at AC Milan.
Ronaldo was willing to leave Old Trafford but he eventually joined Kaka at Real Madrid, Milan lost their position in offsetting the offer from Los Blancos for the Selecao star. At that moment, it was clear that Milan was already affected by the financial crisis which had begun to hit the Italian League.
However, Berlusconi refused to surrender. He considered once again trying to bring Ronaldo in the summer of 2010. But in the end he brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic instead, initially on loan, and put him in charge with Robinho, who was brought in from Manchester City.
The temperamental but talented duet help Milan win the title, but Berlusconi still wasn't satisfied.
In April 2011, before confirming the title, he revealed, "If we manage to win the Scudetto, we will add one or two [players] to next season, and one of them is Ronaldo. And if we manage to get Ronaldo to our team, I think that everyone will be happy. "
Berlusconi failed to realize his dream, until 2018 when Ronaldo finally came to Italy, but unfortunately to Turin, not to Milan.
Ronaldo deserves to be wanted by many clubs since he is talented and a hard worker player. He works harder than anyone else in the team, then and now, even after he gained his stardom. He always come early and go home last in training session. That's how great Ronaldo is as a footballer.
Comments