The Emotional Confession of Ronaldo Nazário About His Departure from Barça

In its 125 years of history, FC Barcelona has had several of the best forwards in history. One of them, although he only spent one season at the club, was Ronaldo Nazário. The Brazilian, who also wore the Real Madrid jersey for four and a half years, spoke with another Barcelona legend, his compatriot Romário, about his departure from Barça in 1997, after a season in which he scored 47 goals in 49 matches.

According to the 'Phenomenon', despite having had a "spectacular" first season and having verbally agreed to renew his contract, five days after speaking with the management, he was informed that, unfortunately, the club could not keep him in the squad for the 1996/97 season.  "It was a punch in the stomach. I was loving the city", said the Brazilian legend while recalling the episode.

Barça closed the transfer of Ronaldo to Inter Milan for 4 billion pesetas, around 24 million euros, which at that time was a record for a Serie A that, during the 1980s and 90s, was the most powerful league in the world, both for the quality of its teams and for its financial power. The 'Nerazzurri' paid the clause of the '9', making him their star player.

For Ronaldo, many of his compatriots left Barça "badly"

However, Ronaldo's time at Inter was marked by two terrible injuries that affected the forward's career. In his first season, the Rio de Janeiro native scored 34 goals in 47 matches, but in his second year, he only played 28 matches in which he scored 15 goals. After that, between September 1999 and May 2002, he barely played 24 matches, due to two serious injuries to his right knee.

In this regard, 'Ronnie' lamented that, like him, other Brazilian 'cracks' left through the back door of Barça. "Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar... they all left on bad terms; in the end, the relationship deteriorated and ended very badly", pointed out the now 38-year-old businessman in his conversation with Romário, the first Brazilian idol who, in 1994, left the blue and claret team after just a year and a half where, although he scored many goals, he could not adapt to the demands of the club.