AS the no.15 tram winds its way through the centre of Turin, regular passengers have somehow managed to grow ambivalent to the sights visible through the windows. The royal palace in Piazza Castello barely registers, nor does the simple yet elegant majesty of the buildings along Via Po, with even the stunning church of Gran Madre di Dio failing to get a reaction even when the roof is lit up in blue.
However, as they entered the expansive Piazza Vittorio Veneto last summer, even the most hardened of commuters were taken aback by the latest addition to the expansive square; a huge Nike advert which covered an entire building in the northwest corner. Listed on it in huge letters were the incredible accomplishments of Cristiano Ronaldo, including the 15 trophies, 573 goals and five Ballons d’Or he had won during his time with Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Yet, given that just over a month had passed since the Portuguese megastar had signed for Juventus, the line following all those achievements was perhaps the most pertinent. “Now forget it all and start again,” it read.
#Juventus play their first home game of 2018/19 on Saturday & it’s rightly gathering lots of attention. Ronaldo sponsors Nike have put up this huge banner listing all his accomplishments, ending with the phrase “now forget it all & start again” #JuveLazio pic.twitter.com/AIGI1PUX6o
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) August 25, 2018
Simple, hugely effective and undeniably in-keeping with Ronaldo’s approach to football. Never one to rest on his laurels, here he was at 33-years-old walking away from the Santiago Bernabeu where his legacy was already assured, starting a new chapter in a league and a country he had never experienced before simply because he wanted a new challenge.
Sure, the lucrative four-year contract helped, but in joining the Bianconeri, Ronaldo knew he was opening himself up to fresh criticism and the prospect of playing for a side who almost certainly wouldn’t match Real Madrid’s run of four Champions League victories in five seasons. The flip side of that however is what delivering “Old Big Ears” for the Turin giants would mean and, while it might seem reductive, winning UEFA’s elite competition at Juve would simultaneously catapult Ronaldo into the conversation as the greatest player ever too.
With Pele, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi his only rivals for that title, the Madeira native has the longevity, silverware and talent to match all three of them, but he would be the only one able to transfer his success from league to league.
Having already won domestic titles in England and Spain, he looks on course to add a Serie A winners’ medal as the Bianconeri march relentlessly towards an eighth-consecutive Scudetto this term. Ronaldo has unquestionably played a major role in that, both grabbing goals himself and creating them for his team-mates with predictable regularity, firing his way to the top of the leading scorer chart as expected.-
Ronaldo numbers pic.twitter.com/mw3ZgE2eFX
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 16, 2019
But, given the huge financial investment they made to secure his signature, that will not be enough for the transfer – or the player’s tenure with Juve – to be deemed a success. That is where the Champions League enters the conversation once again, with the Old Lady’s quest for European glory now entering its 23rd year.
Not since 1996 has she been crowned the continent’s best, with a plethora of high-profile signings failing to held guide her back to the summit. Zinedine Zidane, Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez all departed without claiming Champions League glory in Juve colours, leaving Ronaldo with the chance to be the man who finally proved decisive.
If he does, not only would it reopen the aforementioned GOAT debate, but there is a case to be made that Ronaldo has had a greater impact upon Serie A than any other player before him.
Again Maradona would be part of that conversation after transforming Napoli into a title-winning force for the only time in their existence, as would Gabriel Batistuta whose goal scoring exploits made Fiorentina’s purple shirts recognisable across the globe.
| 15 February 1998
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⚽ Right foot
⚽ HeaderThe perfect hat trick from the unstoppable Luis Nazario @Ronaldo ⚫️ #InterForever #OnThisDay #FBF pic.twitter.com/Tvku27nJv2
— Inter (@Inter_en) February 15, 2019
The Brazilian Ronaldo’s brief but unrepeatable time with Inter belongs in the same echelon, as does Michel Platini’s own trophy-laden five-year stint in Turin, but given the huge changes to the landscape since their departure, Cristiano winning the Champions League now would arguably trump them all.
While his predecessors might have achieved sporting greatness, Ronaldo is doing so while also being one of the most recognisable human beings on the planet and dealing with a level of media scrutiny that did not exist in the 1990s never mind in the 80s or earlier.
So while it might seem the most simplistic of barometers, if he can win the Champions League while helping Juventus maintain their complete domination of Italian football, Cristiano Ronaldo might well deserve the GOAT honours as well as being remembered as the most impactful signing in Serie A history.
It wouldn’t look out of place in his next ad campaign either.
