Former Manager Capello Urges Juventus To Sign $119M Striker Who Could Be Ronaldo’s Benzema In Turin

Former Italian midfielder Fabio Capello has urged Juventus to sign Wolves star Raul Jimenez at the ongoing transfer window.

While Juventus clinched their eighth successive Serie A title, the club failed at the Champions League, where they could not cross the last-16 round on away goals. The last time Juventus won the premier European tournament was in the 1995-96 season. They came close to winning it in 2017 but lost the final to 13-time champions Real Madrid. Ronaldo, who has won five Champions League titles (four with Real and one with Manchester United), was a part of that Real Madrid side

The Portuguese forward, who moved from Real Madrid to Turin in the summer of 2018, was in a brilliant form in the 2019-20 season, scoring 37 competitive goals, including 31 in Serie A. He finished just second to Lazio striker Ciro Immobile in the top-scorers' list in the Italian league.

The Champions League elimination recently saw Juventus sack Maurizio Sarri and replace him with former player Andrea Pirlo, who is now looking to strengthen the team, keeping in mind the Champions League.

Capello, who has managed clubs such as Juventus, Real Madrid, Milan and Roma, believes that Jimenez can be Ronaldo’s Karim Benzema at Juventus. Benzema and Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 and had established themselves among the legendary goal-scoring pairs in European soccer before Ronaldo left Santiago Bernabeu two years back.

Over the last few weeks, Juventus have been linked with Jimenez, who still has three years left in his current contract with Wolves. It is understood that Wolves have rejected Juventus’ proposed swap deal for Jimenez involving Aaron Ramsey. The Premier League side is not willing to let go of the talented forward, who scored 27 goals in 55 competitive matches ahead of the new campaign. Even if they decide to sell him, the club reportedly are demanding $119 million.

"He is a great player who has lots of talent, ideal to play alongside Ronaldo. Because Cristiano has been missing a [Karim] Benzema at Juventus, that could be Raul," Capello, who played for the likes of Roma, Milan and Juventus between 1964 and 1980, told ESPN when asked about the Mexico international.