Despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s prolific record since joining Juventus in a club-record transfer in 2018, there have been rumblings he has failed to see eye to eye with his managers
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Former Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri admits it is “not easy” to manage Cristiano Ronaldo, echoing a worrying recent claim about the superstar striker.
Ronaldo, 36, joined Juve in a club-record £99million transfer from Real Madrid in 2018 and has plundered 101 goals during his three seasons in Turin.
The Portuguese spent his second campaign working under Sarri, scoring 31 goals to fire the Bianconeri to the Serie A title and netting a further six times in the Champions League and Coppa Italia.
But despite his prolific record, there have been rumblings Ronaldo has failed to see eye to eye with his managers at Juventus.
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As well as Sarri, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been coached by highly-respected Massimiliano Allegri and Italy icon Andrea Pirlo since moving to the Allianz Stadium.
But Juve legend David Trezeguet – who recently departed his role as a club ambassador – highlighted certain issues between player and manager during a recent interview.
“No one has been able to manage him like [former Real Madrid boss Zinedine] Zidane did,” Trezeguet told La Gazzetta dello Sport . “Maybe Juve lacked a certain dialogue.
“A coach can take a player, show him a game and say: ‘Look, you walked for 90 minutes. Give me a hand to win’. There are players that make you win and you can’t have them against you.”
The allegation of Ronaldo being difficult to handle has been backed up by Sarri, who told Sportitalia : “The management of Ronaldo is not easy, also because there are interests behind him.
“To tell the truth, I think I’m better at being a coach and not a manager. I find it boring and I enjoy it more on the pitch.”
Have Juventus’ recent managers struggled to manage Cristiano Ronaldo? Have your say in the comments.
Perhaps following on from his comments about Ronaldo, Sarri appeared to lament the imbalance between the perceived value of individual players compared to the team.
He added: “The product of our society, I hear so much talk about the players and then the teams.
“The value of the team is never the sum of the individuals. It’s either significantly higher or lower.”
Meanwhile, Sarri also claimed his Serie A triumph with Juventus “wasn’t even celebrated” by his players as the club won their ninth Scudetto in a row.
“Maybe it was taken too much for granted, both inside and outside,” said former Chelsea boss.
“It wasn’t even celebrated. Everyone went to dinner on their own. Maybe this would be the right time to go to Juve, as they finished fourth [last season].
“However, what happened after eight years of Scudetti can happen. To win you have to do well and sometimes that’s not enough.”
