- Tebas said that the La Liga brand and its big clubs are beyond individual players,
- Tebas also said that Serie A has barely noticed the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in their league
La Liga president Javier Tebas has said that the league has not suffered a negative impact since Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid to join Juventus in 2018.
Ronaldo joined the Italian giants from Los Blancos in 2018 for a fee that was said to be around €100m.
Ronaldo spent nine years at the Bernabeu, after joining Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, for a then world-record fee of around £80m.
Tebas was speaking to Spanish news publication Marca, via Football Italia, on potential departures of superstars Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos to join teams outside Spain.
Messi’s contract saga over the summer also involved La Liga, who confirmed Barcelona’s claim that his release clause of €700m was still active.
Speculation about the Argentine’s future refuses to die down. In recent weeks, it has also been speculated that Ramos could leave Real Madrid at the end of the season, bringing an end to one of the most storied La Liga careers in recent years.
Javier Tebas says Serie A barely noticed Cristiano Ronaldo arrival
“Obviously, I don’t want them to leave La Liga, but if that were to happen, we’d all have to give more to take up the slack,” Tebas said on Messi and Ramos.
“Cristiano Ronaldo left, as some haters reminded me on Twitter. I can assure you that nothing has changed for us. To be honest, I don’t think Serie A has improved much either, they barely noticed his arrival,” he added.
“Neymar went to PSG, but Ligue 1 is still only Ligue 1. The La Liga brand and the big clubs that take part are above any individual player, no matter how talented.”
Ronaldo has not yet won at Juventus, the trophy that the Bianconeri are so badly craving – the UEFA Champions League.
He has scored 71 goals in 94 games in all competitions for Juventus, winning the league title in both seasons.
In the Champions League, Juventus fell to Ajax in the quarterfinal in the 2018-19 season, before losing to Lyon in the Round of 16 in 2019-20.
Tebas’s claim can be corroborated by looking at the TV rights contracts for the two leagues. La Liga’s current contract, is worth close around €2b a season, while Serie A’s is at around €1.3b.
In comparison, the Premier League TV rights are said to be worth in the region of £9.2b.
