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Football

12th Jul 2018

Fiat workers to strike over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus move

Not everyone's happy about his arrival in Italy

Simon Lloyd

Done deal

After nine years, four Champions Leagues, Two La Ligas, four Ballon d’Ors and God-knows-how-many shirtless goal celebrations, Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer a Real Madrid player.

Following plenty of speculation, it was announced earlier in the week that the 33-year-old would leave the Bernabeu for Juventus, the Italian champions agreeing to pay €112m (£99.2m) for him.

Ronaldo’s official unveiling in Turin is scheduled for Monday, but it’s clear not everyone’s all that happy at his arrival in Serie A.

As reported by the BBC, workers at the Fiat Chrysler’s Melfi plant in southern Italy are set to strike as a result of the deal.

Despite being operated as entirely separate businesses, Juventus and Fiat Chrysler are both owned by the Agnelli family and are run through their Exor holding company.

The USB union believes the decision to spend big on Ronaldo means that Fiat will be missing out on investment, explaining such a move is “unacceptable” while workers were making “huge economic sacrifices”.

Union members working at the plant, where Fiat models such as the Punto and 500X are made, will walk out at 10pm local time on Sunday night, remaining on strike until 6pm on the following Tuesday.

Ronaldo has been on holiday in Greece since Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup by Uruguay at the last-16 stage earlier this month.

Since his move to Juve was confirmed, it’s been revealed that his former club Manchester United turned down the opportunity to re-sign him. Paris Saint-Germain are also thought to have declined the chance to sign him.