Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly hopes to see Mauro Icardi join Juventus before the transfer deadline to be his ideal partner up front.
The Bianconeri have a big decision to make before the window closes, as Maurizio Sarri will be looking for the best combination possible in the final third.
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As seen last season, Paulo Dybala struggled to adjust and adapt his game following the arrival of Ronaldo, and that ultimately saw his influence drop both in general play and in terms of his decisiveness in front of goal as his goals and assists tallies dropped.
Gonzalo Higuain has returned from his loan spells away from the club, but according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, it’s Icardi who Ronaldo would prefer to play alongside this coming season.
The 26-year-old has been a prolific figure for Inter since joining them in 2013, scoring 124 goals in 219 appearances as he has emerged as one of the top forwards in Europe.
However, issues off the pitch have ultimately led to him being snubbed by both Luciano Spalletti and Antonio Conte, as he has lost the captaincy as well as the No.9 shirt and so an exit is seemingly inevitable this summer.
Based on the report above, it sounds as though Ronaldo is eager for Icardi to make the switch to Turin to further strengthen the defending Serie A champions, as they hope to continue to dominate domestically while also going all the way in the Champions League.
It’s easy to see why a Ronaldo-Icardi partnership would work given his creativity and threat in and around the box behind the Argentine poacher, although it will surely depend on exits too as Juve are already overcrowded in that department.
Sarri also has the likes of Federico Bernandeschi, Douglas Costa, Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado battling for places, and so he’ll likely have to make space in the squad first before any possible raid on Inter for Icardi goes through.
