Cont.

Ronaldo also brings a different type of star quality. He is among the world’s most tracked personalities on social media, with a combined following of 330m users on platforms from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram. Juventus gained 10m more social media followers in July alone.

Mr Ricci says this helps make the case to sponsors about the club’s growing popularity. The club is in talks with six potential new “regional” sponsors in China and south-east Asia, with other multinational corporations keen to open discussions, he says.

Yet, Mr Szymanski suggests Juventus will continue to be hampered by Italian football’s relative lack of global exposure. “Broadcasting brings the sponsorship, rather than the other way around,” he says. “I can understand that Juventus, in trying to develop a strategy for a club located within Serie A, may not have a lot of choices. This may be its best shot. But is it likely to succeed without a renaissance in Italian football generally? I think it’s tricky.”

For Juventus it is a challenge. It wants to become a global club and Mr Agnelli believes Ronaldo will help it secure a permanent position at the top of the world game. But to do that, once the striker retires, the Juventus owner needs to attract the next young footballing prodigy.

“We have to be in a position to be able to clinch the next Cristiano,” he says. “But at the age of 25.”