Whilst the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus has been hailed as a major coup for Italian football, not everyone is happy with the £88m deal.
Italy’s Agnelli family owns 64 per cent of the historic Turin football club and are believed to have helped finance the move to bring one of world football’s biggest names to Serie A. However, the Agnelli’s also own close to 30 per cent of Fiat through an investment holding and there are some who believe that an £88m investment could be better spent on the nation’s flagging motor industry, in particular Fiat’s underfunded Melfi plant.
Fiat Chrysler (FCA) had made thousands of lay-offs in Italy in recent years and a lack of new models and the Ronaldo move has prompted a small but influential union to call a strike for this Sunday.
The union said: “It is unacceptable that while the [owners] ask workers of FCA ... for huge economic sacrifices for years, the same decide to spend hundreds of millions of euros for the purchase of a player.
“The owners should invest in car models that guarantee the future of thousands of people rather than enriching only one.”
Ronaldo’s move from Real Madrid was completed on Wednesday following weeks of speculation with a move. Juventus have a long-standing relationship with Fiat, which stretches back all the way to 1923, when Fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club and built a new stadium, improving the club’s fortunes in the process.
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