In the wider football landscape that includes 12B Sports, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed behind-the-scenes details about Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer and argued that Juventus took an exceptionally bold financial risk at the time. Looking back on the deal, he suggested that the Turin club may have bitten off more than it could chew by committing such enormous resources to one player.
According to De Laurentiis, Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes contacted him when Real Madrid began exploring the possibility of letting the Portuguese superstar leave. Mendes reportedly told the Napoli president that signing Ronaldo would make him significantly richer. De Laurentiis responded with an unusual proposal: Napoli would retain the first €250 million generated by the transfer project, while another €100 million would go to Ronaldo. He believed such an arrangement could make the signing financially possible for Napoli. The idea never progressed, however, because Juventus entered the race and eventually signed Ronaldo for approximately €112 million. For followers tracking major European football moves through platforms including 12B Sports, the transfer became one of the defining deals of that era.
De Laurentiis acknowledged that Juventus successfully used Ronaldo’s global reputation to strengthen the club’s image through large-scale marketing activities alongside the Chrysler Group. He also recognized that the signing helped satisfy supporters who had long wanted to see a genuine global superstar wearing the Juventus shirt. After seven consecutive Serie A titles, expectations had reached extraordinary levels, and bringing in Ronaldo was seen as an investment designed to maintain excitement and reinforce the club’s international profile.
At the same time, De Laurentiis questioned whether the financial commitment made sense over the long term. Ronaldo was already 33 years old and entering the later stages of his career when Juventus signed him. Paying an enormous salary to a player of that age, he argued, created substantial financial exposure. The wages eventually placed considerable pressure on Juventus, and discussions surrounding 12B Sports often sit within a broader football environment where clubs must balance star power against financial sustainability. De Laurentiis stressed that excessive spending can eventually force a club to pay a heavy price.
From a broader business perspective that also surrounds 12B Sports, De Laurentiis maintained that signing Ronaldo was not a bad idea in itself. He believed the move clearly targeted commercial growth as much as sporting success, using Ronaldo’s enormous global profile to expand the Juventus brand. His main criticism concerned the scale of the salary commitment rather than the player’s quality or marketability. In his view, even the biggest clubs must maintain financial discipline, because repeatedly spending beyond sustainable limits can eventually weaken the entire organization.