Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t manage to carry Juventus to the promised land, the elusive Champions League victory, which he had lifted five times before moving to Turin, but his production was never lacking. He bagged 101 goals in 134 appearances. Their frontline hasn’t been able to recover from his exit, even though the club took multiple stabs at trying to replace him.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport points out, the Portuguese star in his final year, despite being 36, had hit the net more than all the current strikers combined. Dusan Vlahovic hasn’t made the stat sheet in a month and has scored 11 times so far, Arkadiusz Milik, Moise Kean, Angel Di Maria 8 each, and Federico Chiesa twice.
Juventus onboarded three different strikers since the departure of Ronaldo. They signed their former youth product from Everton for €30M, the Serb from Fiorentina for €70M plus add-ons, and the Pole from Olympique Marseille, who’s on loan with a €7M option to buy. They have combined for 27 goals so far, fewer than the final tally of the ex-Manchester United ace.
On the other hand, the Bianconeri benefitted financially from his exit. The legend was earning €31M net per season, €50M gross, and was more expensive on his own than their entire present attack salary-wise.
Our Take on the Juventus Strike Force and Ronaldo
There’s obviously no argument against his stature and numbers. In hindsight, one of his biggest achievements was to keep up his effectiveness despite the prehistoric and lackadaisical tactics of Massimiliano Allegri. Their forwards have their own issues, but the scarcity of feeds and touches in the box is the main one. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the Portuguese ace forced his way out when the boss returned.
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