Cristiano Ronaldo has been criticised for ‘only thinking about his goals and his records’ as doubt continues to surround his Juventus future.
Ronaldo is the top scorer in Serie A this season, with his 23 goals putting him ahead of the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Luis Muriel and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But Juve are 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan in Italy’s top flight, with their nine years as consecutive champions set to end.
And with the Old Lady having crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the second season in a row, Ronaldo is coming under increasing criticism.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was signed for £105million in 2018 with the remit of firing Juve to the top of European football.
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And with that ambition thwarted yet again, former Italy striker Antonio Cassano reckons Juve should sell Ronaldo.
He claimed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is only interested in his own personal glory and is a hindrance to Juve playing the way Andrea Pirlo wants to play.
“If you sell Cristiano, there’s €100m with which you can sign a couple of top players,” said Cassano, speaking on Bobo TV and broadcast on Twitch.
“You can’t have a coach who wants to play football with Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s a brake on Pirlo.
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“Cristiano only thinks about his goals and records. If you’re president and you want to start a new cycle, you cannot give a rookie coach the responsibility of coaching someone like Ronaldo.”
Cassano first took aim at Ronaldo after Juve’s shock 2-1 defeat at Porto in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
“Juventus signed him to win the Champions League, but they’ve done worse with him than they’ve done before,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“They’d also won the Scudetto [Serie A title] without him. I think he’s been a failure.”
(Image: MIGUEL A LOPES/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Cassano was somewhat vindicated as Porto went on to eliminate Juventus from the Champions League on away goals after a pulsating second leg in Turin earlier this month.
Ronaldo has been linked with a return to Real Madrid in the summer transfer window, while speculation has also suggested PSG could make a move for the 36-year-old.
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