Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo Nazario has come clean on what led to his move to Santiago Bernabeu after his spell at Inter Milan despite previously playing for Barcelona. The Brazilian legend revealed that he agreed to a sign a new deal to stay with the Catalans in 1997 but was unable to put pen to paper as the deal was withdrawn days later.
Before becoming unpopular among the fan-base of Barca, Ronaldo enjoyed a successful spell with the Blaugrana in the 1996/1997 season. Following his sensational stint with PSV in the previous season which led to his world-record move to Camp Nou, El Fenonemo continued his uprising in Spain - finishing the year with his first Ballon d'Or after scoring 47 goals in 49 appearances.
Nevertheless, he lasted just a season at Barca and was subsequently shipped off to Inter Milan in a another world-record transfer. The bizarre switch was later attributed to the fact that the player failed to agree to terms on a new deal. The Rio de Janeiro native will eventually spend five seasons in Italy and successfully capped his spell with two more Ballon d'Ors.
Ronaldo then jumped on an opportunity to move to Real Madrid in 2002 played for the Whites until the end of the 2005 season. He was part of Los Blancos' famed Galacticos which had notable figures such as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, David Beckham, Raul, Roberto Carlos and Iker Casillas.
Yet Ronaldo has revealed that he had no qualms about staying at Barca. The ex-Brazilian forward insisted that he was only forced to move away because the Catalans withdrew his contract extension while away with the national team in the summer of 1997.
Ronaldo told DAZN Italy: "I'd signed a contract renewal at the end of the season and I went away with the Brazil national team.
"Five days later, they called me to tell me that I couldn't continue with the renewal.
"It was never in my hands. I wanted to stay.
"If the club didn't value me as I thought they should, then the decision wasn't in my hands. I would have liked to have stayed, but it wasn't up to me.'
At Madrid, Ronaldo scored 104 goals in 177 appearances and finished his career with the Merengues with a La Liga title. Regarding his experience at the club, he said: "I played alongside Roberto Carlos for Brazil, and he would tell me about all that Madrid represented, and what he experienced there. That stuck in my mind, and after a few years I wanted to see it with my own eyes.
"I came to Madrid and it was even greater than what Roberto had told me, bigger than I could imagine. It's Real Madrid. There is great expectation and great pressure. There are also, of course, the best players in the world.
"I was delighted to find out that it was such a huge club, and that I could help the club to be even greater. "There was a lot of expectation about that group of 'Galacticos'. In the end we provided a lot of showmanship, were a winning generation, and changed the way of doing business in football.
"Since then, every club has generated more money and sold their players better. That was the big change in a new era of football.
"However, I can't tell you which version of me was the best. I enjoyed all of them, of course.
"I love playing football and I love football. I think that's more a question for the fans. I tried to be the best I could be throughout my entire career."
