'He will stay' - Cristiano Ronaldo backed to remain at Juventus by vice-president Pavel Nedved

ByEurosport

Updated 24/03/2021 at 16:49 GMT

"Kids will study his physique and his career. He's the prototype of the modern player who, with immense talent and a lot of work, has achieved incredible goals." Andrea Pirlo has also been backed to remain at Juventus by Pavel Nedved despite a difficult first season in charge of the Serie A champions

Cristiano Ronaldo

Image credit: Getty Images

Pavel Nedved is confident Cristiano Ronaldo will be a Juventus player next season, and has also backed under-fire coach Andre Pirlo.

Ronaldo’s future has been shrouded in doubt following Juve’s last-16 exit from the Champions League at the hands of Porto.

The Portuguese superstar has been linked with a return to Real Madrid, but Juve vice-president Nedved expects the 36-year-old to remain in Turin.

Premier League

Kulusevski says Postecoglou 'makes you brave' - 'Different from any coach I've had'

12/03/2024 at 20:03

“For me, Cristiano can’t be touched," Nedved said. "He has a contract until June 30 2022 and he will stay. We’ll see what happens after that.

“Cristiano, both technically and in terms of image, pushed us towards the peak of football. On a technical level, you can't fault him. He's scored more than 100 goals in 120 games and he dragged us into the Champions League.

“We can criticise him – we all have to be open to criticism when we make a mistake – but to question his numbers and what he gives us in every game, for me, isn't fair.

“He's a simple guy, even if it doesn't seem like that from the outside.

Kids will study his physique and his career. He's the prototype of the modern player who, with immense talent and a lot of work, has achieved incredible goals."

Pirlo was surprisingly named as Maurizio Sarri’s successor last year despite having no previous management experience.

He has been widely criticised, with the Old Lady on the back foot as they bid to win Serie A for a 10th season in a row, but the 41-year-old has the backing of Nedved.

“Pirlo is and will be the coach of Juventus, that’s 100 per cent certain,” Nedved told DAZN. “We committed to a project with Andrea, knowing that there would be difficulties. We wanted to do better than this and haven't managed to, but difficulties were predicted.

“We are very calm. We’re on the path that we wanted, which we will stay on. He has everything to become a great coach.”