Juventus have been urged to "free" Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the season by former club president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.
Ronaldo is currently contracted to the reigning Serie A champions until the end of the 2021/22 season, but former Bianconeri president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has urged the club to offload their star man long before then.
The 76-year-old, who served as Juve's chief between 2006 and 2009, was speaking about the club's recent struggles when he was asked if the decision to sign Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2018 had been a mistake.
"Absolutely, yes! I said that on his very first day at Juventus. He is a great champion but is too expensive," Gigli told Radio Punto Nuovo h/t The World Game.
"Now it's up to Juventus. They've been paying him €1 million (R17 million) per goal. [Current president Andrea] Agnelli must be self-critical, but he doesn't have great collaborators.
"The club should free Ronaldo at the end of the season and the same goes for [sporting director] Paratici. Maybe Agnelli had promoted him to remove him from his position afterwards. This could be the scenario."
Ronaldo joined Juve for a reported €100 million (R1.7 billion) from Los Blancos and has scored 92 goals in 121 appearances for the club to date.
Scroll through the gallery below to see where Ronaldo reportedly ranks among Serie A's highest-paid players