Former Chelsea and Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has addressed suggestions Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn't play as a central striker for the Italian club, admitting he was making "an almost absurd request" of the forward.
Ronaldo finished as Juve's top scorer under Sarri as they won the Scudetto in the 2019-20 season, with only Lazio's Ciro Immobile bettering his 31 league goes in all of Serie A.
Sarri is now in charge of Immobile at Lazio, but addressed his time in Turin this week, paying particular attention to suggestions Ronaldo - a doubt for Manchester United's derby trip to the Etihad Stadium - was unprepared to play as a central striker.
The Portugal international has regularly occupied a central role since returning to Old Trafford over the summer, but Sarri confirmed that wasn't always his preference in Italy.
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“Cristiano scored more Serie A goals in his season with me than any other,” Sarri told Sky Italia after Lazio's weekend victory over Cagliari, as reported by Football Italia.
“He was prepared to play centre-forward in a few games when we had an emergency situation, but he didn’t much like the idea of doing it regularly.
“In those situations, you end up challenging the certainties that the player has. Ronaldo scored 35-40 goals per season by starting from that wider position, so for him it was an almost absurd request. That is understandable for the way he plays.”
Ronaldo scored four times in his first three Manchester United appearances since rejoining the club in August, but found the net just once in his first 10 appearances of 2022.
Former United captain Gary Neville, who played with the former Sporting CP man in Ronaldo's first Old Trafford spell, left his ex-colleague out of a combined Manchester City and Manchester United XI.
Ronaldo remains United's top scorer in all competitions this season, with 15 goals in 30 games in all competitions, but he is some way off the 37 in 46 appearances he managed under Sarri.
His three seasons in Italy brought a total of 101 goals in 134 games, with 81 of those goals coming in Serie A.
Despite winning the league in his first season, Sarri was dismissed by Juventus after just one year after losing the Coppa Italia final and suffering elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Lyon.
The Italian took over at Lazio in the summer of 2021, after predecessor Simone Inzaghi was appointed as Inter Milan manager, and has kept his team in contention for European qualification.
Top scorer Immobile was back among the goals in the 3-0 victory against Cagliari on Saturday night, taking his own tally for the season up to 25 in all competitions.
