Ronaldo returned to step on the Cruzeiro facilities. Recovered from the Covid-19, the new owner of the entity, which holds 90% of the shares, was able to travel to Belo Horizonte, where he greeted the members of the staff and offered a press conference in which he explained, openly, “the tragic scene” of a historic club, drowned in debt, that will play for the third season in a row in Serie B.
“Every time we open a drawer we find a negative surprise”, He said ‘Phenomenon‘, who described the current situation of the celestial club as that of “a serious patient, who is in the ICU”. “We are here to take the necessary measures, at the moment, we are in an analysis phase to find out what is the size of the hole that there is, what is the debt that exists and who are the creditors”he added.
The new manager of the club presented the shock plan that he has begun to implement, which is based on a massive cut in expenses and on adopting a non-negotiable austerity policy. “In my head it does not enter that the operation of the club was with a budget in which there were more expenses than income, this is over”, he exposed. And he appreciated the efforts of the squad, which will be three times cheaper this season compared to last year.
On the dismissal of goalkeeper Fabio, who had been in the first team for 17 years, Ronaldo was very explicit: “Nobody is bigger than the club and we are going to have to continue taking unpopular measures that are extremely necessary to put the Cruzeiro back where it deserves.”
The ex of the Barça and the Madrid indicated that the cleaning of the accounts will not prevent the formation of “a competitive squad” to obtain “Our main objective is to fight for promotion to Serie A”.
Ronaldo was very satisfied with the signing of Uruguayan coach, Paulo Pezzolano, which will have as one of its functions to help find players “that fit within the economic reality” and at the same time “be competitive.”In his first appearance, the ‘Phenomenon’ marked ground and under the euphoria that his arrival as the new strong man of the club caused among the crooked Cruzeirense. It is time to remove the scissors, plug holes and pay 20 million euros to creditors throughout 2022. It will be another tough season for the blue team.
