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Maurizio Sarri Holds Meeting With Ronaldo On His Yacht, Wants To Turn Him Into 'CR9'

Maurizio Sarri Holds Meeting With Ronaldo On His Yacht, Wants To Turn Him Into 'CR9'

Sarri proposed a change in position for his talisman...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Could CR7 be about to become CR9? There's next to no chance of the five-time Ballon d'Or changing his iconic number but reports say that Maurizio Sarri is planning to change Ronaldo's position in his Juventus side.

As per Football Italia, a plethora of leading Italian outlets La Stampa, Corriere della Sera, Gazzetta dello Sport say that the new Bianconeri boss held a face-to-face meeting with Ronaldo on his Yacht in the French Riviera to discuss the 33-year old playing as a 'false nine'.

Sarri famously played Belgian duo Dries Mertens and Eden Hazard at Napoli and Chelsea respectively and now wants Ronaldo to adapt to his methods.

It's a natural progression for Ronaldo, who has gone from being one of the best dribblers in the world to being recognised as the greatest goalscorer in the game.

And as his game has adapted, so too has Ronaldo's mentality when he steps onto the pitch.

"I see football as a mission: go to the field, win, make me better," Ronaldo said in an interview with El Pais, per the Independent.

"Those moments when I went to the field thinking, 'I'm going to dribble," if I'm honest, I don't have those moments anymore.

"There is an additional pressure. People are always judging: 'It's over already. He's 33, 34 or 35 years old, I should leave him.' And you want to surprise people."

Sarri has already expressed his delight at coaching a world-beater Ronaldo and wants him to break the Serie A goalscoring record of 36 goals in a season - set by Gonzalo Higuain when he was at Napoli.

Image: PA
Image: PA

"I've trained great players over the years, but with Ronaldo I move on to the next level, a player who is at the top of the world,' Sarri said in his press conference as Juve manager.

"This is a lad with every record in world football and I'd like to help him set another, knowing I contributed to it.

"I trained a player with the all-time Serie A record for goals in a single season. I'd like to make that two. It'd be an enormous satisfaction."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Gonzalo Higuain, Football News, Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea, Football, Serie A, Juve, Juventus, Napoli, Cristiano Ronaldo, Italy