Since being thrown out of the 2018 World Cup by Uruguay, Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked to a Juventus transfer in a €100 million ($117m) deal.
This, however, has caused the wrath of Fiat workers. The Italian automaker currently owns 29.18% of the Agnelli family’s businesses, which in turn own 63.77% of Juventus. So when reports surfaced that Fiat offered to pay for CR7’s €30 million annual wage, that did not sit well with the company’s employees.
According to Sport Mediaset, Fiat has even offered to take Ronaldo on as a brand ambassador, aside from paying much of what would be required for the soccer star to come to Turin.
“After Higuain, now Cristiano Ronaldo, too,” said Gerardo Giannone, a worker at Fiat’s Pomigliano D’Arco factory near Napoli told AS. “It is a disgrace. Fiat workers have not had a pay rise in 10 years. With Cristiano’s salary we could give every worker an extra €200 [a month]. We have lost 10.7% in inflation over the last decade, something that has never been recovered. And FCA spends 126 million euros per year on sponsorship, of which 26.5 million is for Juventus.”
If Juventus and Fiat do manage to swing the €100 million transfer fee, along with another €120 million in wages over four years, it will amount to a massive €220 million investment. And while it might just help the Italian giants win the UEFA Champions League, something they haven’t done since the 1995-96 season.
Nevertheless, if the deal goes through, it will understandably not sit well with the ailing Fiat workers. Especially if they also see the 1,000-square-meter, super luxurious mansion the Portuguese soccer star is claimed to have already rented in Turin.
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