Cristiano Ronaldo’s high-priced move from Real Madrid to Juventus has prompted Fiat Chrysler workers to call for a strike – both Juventus and Fiat Chrysler are part-owned by the Agnelli family trust.

WORKERS AT Fiat Chrysler’s Melfi plant have issued a statement protesting at the amount of money paid to Cristiano Ronaldo in his transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus – AUD$176 million. See, Italy’s Agnelli family owns nearly 30% of Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and 64% of Juventus.

“It is unacceptable that while the (owners) ask workers of FCA … for huge economic sacrifices for years, the same decide to spend hundreds of millions of euros for the purchase of a player,” the USB union said in a statement. It’s worth noting that the USB union is a small independent union that allegedly doesn’t represent many workers at the Melfi factory.

Why the hue and cry? Simple. Thousands of workers have been on temporary lay-off due to a lack of new models or production at FCA plants in Italy and while the company claims it has a plan that should see most of those workers back working again soon (by the end of 2022), there’s anger about the money found to pay Ronaldo. FCA had originally said it would have its workers at full capacity by the end of 2018 but that goal has been pushed out now.

“The owners should invest in car models that guarantee the future of thousands of people rather than enriching only one,” the union said in its statement. The planned protest will run from Sunday until Tuesday next week.

Editorial: Apologies to all, this report combines my two loves: cars and football…I never thought their paths would cross in a non-clickbait footballer’s cars kind of way.