After the pre-season fixtures and the training sessions, Cristiano Ronaldo proved that he was no more than a perfect substitute.
So Real Madrid's chairman Florentino Perez and new manager Manuel Pelligrini had to find the perfect player to fill this position. And they found the right one, Marianini, as they paid for him a mega 98 million euros bid plus Van Der Vaart's move to the second division Italian club.
Marianini, 30 years old (born 6 may 1979), will wear the number 9 and Ronaldo will have the number 46 wich means that he bacomes CR46. The italian said: "This is a dream come true,..." and he couldn't continue the press conference as he started crying. As for Manuel Pelligrini, who was very touched, he said:"When I was at Villareal I wanted to sign but I couldn't because he was very expensive. Now I'm here where there is a very big budget and I was able to sign him."
Ronaldo was quoted saying:"He's a fantastic player and being his substitute means a lot to me."
Spanish magazine Markka has titled:"Now we are the BEST TEAM IN EUROPE." And other spanish magazine AS said:"Bring the new season, Baby!" As for italian newspaper La gazza dillo sbort, they wrote on the front page:"The new champion" next to his photo.
It's expected that over 94,000 fans will attend Francesco's presentation ceremony at the Bernabeu.
Back to Italy Rafa was very proud of being Marianini's replacement, as for Empoli's manager, he said:"We lost an excellent player, I don't know what Van Der Vaart can bring to us but I think he might be a little useful."
