Brazil legend Ronaldo talks about his time in Spain, in particular his disappointment at effectively being let go by Barcelona before his return to LaLiga as a superstar in Real Madrid's 'Galaticos'.
Ronaldo, who is now majority owner at LaLiga club Real Valladolid, says he never wanted to leave Barcelona, and actually thought he was signing a new contract after a fantastic debut season at Camp Nou, only for the deal to dramatically fall through.
Barca paid a world record fee for Ronaldo, who responded with 47 goals in 49 games while playing at a level few had seen before, but he amazingly left for Inter Milan at the end of his one and only season in 1996/97 after the Italians matched his buyout clause.
It was an incredible situation for a club like Barca to lose their 20-year-old supserstar, who had just become the youngest ever FIFA World Player of the Year and become both LaLiga and Europe's top scorer in the process.
Even more upsetting for Barca fans than seeing Ronaldo then go on to flourish at Inter, would be his return to Spain as part of Real Madrid's army of stars nicknamed the 'Galitcos'.
Watch the video and see below what Ronaldo himself has to say on that move from Barcelona, playing in the Galticos and his new experience of ownership with Valladolid.
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Ronaldo on leaving Barcelona...
“I had signed a contract renewal at the end of the season. I went away on international duty with Brazil and five days later they called me to say that the renewal was off.
It was never in my hands. I wanted to stay but the club didn’t value me as I felt they should so it was ultimately out of my hands.”
Ronaldo on joining Real Madrid...
“I played with Roberto Carlos in the national team and he would always talk to me about what it meant to play for Real Madrid. That really stayed with me.
Years later, I wanted to see that for myself. I came to Real Madrid, and I found that it was a much bigger club than even what Roberto Carlos told me and what I had imagined!”
Ronaldo on the Galacticos...
“The expectations on the ‘galacticos’ was huge. We provided a lot of flair. We were a winning generation, a generation that changed the way of doing business in football.“
Ronaldo is the majority owner at LaLiga club Real Valladolid, and he spoke about what he has learned from Florentino Perez...
“Here at Real Valladolid, we shouldn’t be a regional club. We should first be a national club, then an international club.
From Florentino I learned a lot. I was a key part of his ‘galacticos’ project. I try to apply his ideas here too. They’re still innovative, even today.”
Levante vs Real Madrid is live on LaLigaTV at 8pm GMT on Saturday and Ronado’s Real Valladolid face Espanyol this Sunday at 3pm GMT live on LaLigaTV.
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