Why did Barcelona let Ronaldo go to Inter?

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

I think it had something to do with a release clause in his contract, but why they even put it in there?
Why did they let the best footballer on the planet move the summer following his phenomenal debut season at the club?

Quite possibly the oddest transfer in football history, followed by Figo to Madrid and Ozil to Arsenal.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Pretty sure it was back when Inter Milan and Massimo Moratti were chucking money around like no-ones business. Barca would have probably been stupid to have turned it down.

 

[sun_tzu]

Agents...and money
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.go...ter-in-world-record/kr3cbi4body1125l8g5ku1ev8

 

[arthurka]

I think it had something to do with a release clause in his contract, but why they even put it in there?
Why did they let the best footballer on the planet move the summer following his phenomenal debut season at the club?

Quite possibly the oddest transfer in football history, followed by Figo to Madrid and Ozil to Arsenal.

In an interview with the Serie A club's television station, Ronaldo explains why he left Barça for Inter saying, "I was negotiating my renewal with Barcelona but I decided not to continue because I lost confidence in the directors at Barça."

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Pretty sure it was back when Inter Milan and Massimo Moratti were chucking money around like no-ones business. Barca would have probably been stupid to have turned it down.

20m was nowhere near worthy of Ronaldo’s talents, although a world record at the time, was just a little over what Newcastle paid for Shearer.

 

[MisterLupus]

Several sides to this. Apparently they received an offer from Inter just as they were signing a new contract with Barcelona. Barcelona claims his agents sabotaged contract renewals in favor of Inter - but chances are Inter just kept upping their offer as Ronaldo's intentions to stay were clear and they went through several rounds of renegotiating before Barcelona eventually withdrew. Ronaldo wanted to stay - Barcelona didn't want to pay him what Inter did - and I believe that's that. Also - Barcelona won an appeal to FIFA and got some extra money from his transfer - which was already a record fee prior to that even - so... "Bye-bye Ronaldo - hello Kluivert?"

 

[Welby5]

In an interview with the Serie A club's television station, Ronaldo explains why he left Barça for Inter saying, "I was negotiating my renewal with Barcelona but I decided not to continue because I lost confidence in the directors at Barça."

Maradona also had issues with the board, which ended with him leaving for Napoli.

 

[harms]

I think it had something to do with a release clause in his contract, but why they even put it in there?

The release clause is mandatory in Spain.

 

[jesperjaap]

Didnt matter what Inter offered, people rave about the magic couple of years Ronaldhino produced at Barcelona but the season from Ronaldo there was possibly the best at club level of his career, even better than his time at Inter. He was literally runnign from the halfway line like the flashy kid on a school playground dribbling around everybody.
Hardly the first time the board screwed up with a Brazilian though, criminal they let Romario leave. WHo can forget him and Stoichkov absolutely destroying us, that partnership should have been one of the best in history

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Several sides to this. Apparently they received an offer from Inter just as they were signing a new contract with Barcelona. Barcelona claims his agents sabotaged contract renewals in favor of Inter - but chances are Inter just kept upping their offer as Ronaldo's intentions to stay were clear and they went through several rounds of renegotiating before Barcelona eventually withdrew. Ronaldo wanted to stay - Barcelona didn't want to pay him what Inter did - and I believe that's that. Also - Barcelona won an appeal to FIFA and got some extra money from his transfer - which was already a record fee prior to that even - so... "Bye-bye Ronaldo - hello Kluivert?"

Kluivert joined Barcelona in the summer of 1998.
I remember that because we were heavily linked to him in that same summer.

The release clause is mandatory in Spain.

I understand, but how come it was so low?

 

[Charlie Foley]

I think it had something to do with a release clause in his contract, but why they even put it in there?
Why did they let the best footballer on the planet move the summer following his phenomenal debut season at the club?

Quite possibly the oddest transfer in football history, followed by Figo to Madrid and Ozil to Arsenal.

Figo to Madrid was mad, it involved election promises and pre contract agreements between Figo and Pérez conditioned on Pérez’s election as Real president. Barca could have paid the penalty for Figo to breach his contract with Pérez/Real and stop him going once Pérez was elected but it was like 19 million which was huge at the time and they felt they couldn’t do it

 

[Web of Bissaka]

I understand, but how come it was so low?

? Isn't it high, a huge record at that time.

It seems like low now, but not at that time.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

? Isn't it high, a huge record at that time.

It seems like low now, but not at that time.

Barcelona bought him for a record transfer the summer before that.
It was basically like if Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 for 80m from us, and sold him for 95m or so the following summer to Bayern (or other big club), really makes very little sense.

 

[Bastian]

Barcelona bought him for a record transfer the summer before that.
It was basically like if Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 for 80m from us, and sold him for 95m or so the following summer to Bayern (or other big club), really makes very little sense.

I agree. Some players have what, 300-400m euro release clauses in Spain today. That's at least 2x or 3x what they're "worth". So an insurance policy is now in place. He went cheap at the time, given his immense talents and being the best player in the world, and like you say, what they themselves paid for him.

 

[Chipper]

20m was nowhere near worthy of Ronaldo’s talents, although a world record at the time, was just a little over what Newcastle paid for Shearer.

Think it was £19.5m, but even so that was a big leap from 15m Newcastle paid for Shearer, it's a 30% increase on the world record.

It had never gone up by as much as £4.5m before, and the previous time it had gone up by 30% or more was when Baggio signed for Juventus (8m in 1990, beating Gullit's 6m in '87, a 33% rise).

It would be like someone beating Neymar's £200m fee by paying £260m for a player.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Think it was £19.5m, but even so that was a big leap from 15m Newcastle paid for Shearer, it's a 30% increase on the world record.

It had never gone up by as much as £4.5m before, and the previous time it had gone up by 30% or more was when Baggio signed for Juventus (8m in 1990, beating Gullit's 6m in '87, a 33% rise).

Right, but Ronaldo was really young still and was by far the best player I’ve seen up until that point watching football (Maradona was before my time), we’re talking about a once in a generation player, which Ronaldo was, he was on course to become an all time great.
6m or whatever it was the profit that Barcelona made from the Ronaldo to Inter deal, doesn’t sound like it was worth losing the best player on the planet for.

I would be amazed if there was anyone at Barcelona who understood football and seriously thought that was a good deal.

 

[MisterLupus]

Kluivert joined Barcelona in the summer of 1998.
I remember that because we were heavily linked to him in that same summer.

Actually had to check that but yeah you're right. He spent a season in Milan first - and I have to admit I'd forgotten all about Rivaldo. Just remember thinking when they did eventually sign Kluivert that maybe they weren't so thick after all selling him at that price (it was actually a huge fee by any standards back then)

 

[paraguayo]

he forced the exit

 

[giorno]

They didn't realize the release clause could be met, much like barca's current board with neymar. As for the rest, Barcelona couldn't compete financially with Massimo Moratti. Ronaldo's camp always claimed barcelona tried to short-change him after agreeing a new deal and so he decided to listen to inter's mammoth offer and accept it

 

[redshaw]

You have to factor in the Italian league at the time, the best in the world by far and what might seem like small margins of money were huge back then plus naivety from Barca.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

I remember at the time of all clubs Rangers were in for him and reports were they were offering 30mil. Could you just imagine if he went to the SPL Ronaldo out partying in Glasgow.

 

[Pughnichi]

At the time Serie A was the elite league. Very competitive and many great teams.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Pretty sure it was back when Inter Milan and Massimo Moratti were chucking money around like no-ones business. Barca would have probably been stupid to have turned it down.

Yeah don't think Barca have ever been that rich either.

 

[harms]

I understand, but how come it was so low?

Yeah, they've made the same mistake with Neymar — thinking that the world-record release clause is enough, and that the player will want to stay with them anyway. I'd guess that his agents negotiated the "realistic" sum of the release clause when he signed for Barca as well.

 

[damageinc.]

Bigger club (at that time), bigger money, bigger league....

 

[redspoony]

Combination of what everyone has already said, but I think Barca's treatment of Bobby Robson also played a part. He and Ronaldo were close and Robson was consistently undermined by the club's hierarchy. I think the season he was in charge they won the Copa Del Rey and the Cup Winner's Cup (not sure about the first one), but the club was suffering from a massive hangover from the Cruyff era and Robson, try though he might, couldn't get the people who mattered on board.

 

[sun_tzu]

Barcelona bought him for a record transfer the summer before that.
It was basically like if Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 for 80m from us, and sold him for 95m or so the following summer to Bayern (or other big club), really makes very little sense.

actually Barca sold him for almost 50% more than they paid
its like Neymar being sold last summer for £300m

Seria A was the place to be at the time and I suspect the wages on offer (plus the sponsorship etc at the time) would have dwarfed any offer Barca could realistically have made - Its not too disimilar from paying a then world record fee of £3m for maradonna in 1982 to sell him to napoli for £5m two seasons later

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Money and (at the time) bigger club.

At the time £20m was a big increase on the existing record of £15m, and Inter were seen as having a brighter future than Barca, who weren't all that big back then. Inter were also offering the highest wages in the world at the time. It would be like Mbappe going to Madrid for £250m now

I'm pretty sure Ronaldo pushed for the move anyway.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Barcelona bought him for a record transfer the summer before that.
It was basically like if Madrid bought Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 for 80m from us, and sold him for 95m or so the following summer to Bayern (or other big club), really makes very little sense.

Money back then meant more, we didn't have record revenues like we do now.

15m was a massive amount, but yes obviously in hindsight it was a bad deal.

 

[SATA]

I remembered we play his Inter team in 1999 and we were scared of him. And to think they had the likes of Recoba and Zamarano (was Vieri there as well?) but all the fear and attention was on R9 even though he wasn’t 100% fit

 

[Tomuś]

I remembered we play his Inter team in 1999 and we were scared of him. And to think they had the likes of Recoba and Zamarano (was Vieri there as well?) but all the fear and attention was on R9 even though he wasn’t 100% fit

I think he played in the return leg because I don't remember him at OT. Am I wrong?

 

[Tomuś]

I sure remember him at our place some 4 years later, though

 

[Raees]

Nike played a huge role in the move from what I recall. Ronaldo just basically followed what he was told and wasn’t too fussed where he played.

 

[damageinc.]

I remembered we play his Inter team in 1999 and we were scared of him. And to think they had the likes of Recoba and Zamarano (was Vieri there as well?) but all the fear and attention was on R9 even though he wasn’t 100% fit

Baggio as well (that made a super match against Real Madrid in that Cl edition), not Vieri yet... I remember these games as well, Zamorano and Simeone did a great work at Old Trafford in the first leg, Inter was a bit unlucky.
Anyway Ronaldo was even presented before the friendly Inter vs Manchester United on the pitch at San Siro with all the kids around him... I was there.

 

[SATA]

I think he played in the return leg because I don't remember him at OT. Am I wrong?

Yes i think so too. He played at the San Siro in the second leg. Didn’t they have Salas as well? What a star studded Inter team

 

[SATA]

Baggio as well (that made a super match against Real Madrid in that Cl edition), not Vieri yet... I remember these games as well, Zamorano and Simeone did a great work Old Trafford in the first leg, Inter was a bit unlucky.
Anyway Ronaldo was even presented before the friendly Inter vs Manchester United on the pitch at San Siro with all the kids around him... I was there.

Wow must be a great moment for you mate witnessing one of the best in the game

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Yes i think so too. He played at the San Siro in the second leg. Didn’t they have Salas as well? What a star studded Inter team

Salas was in Lazio.
I think that match in San Siro was Berg’s best match for us, he really did well against Ronaldo that night.

 

[Tomuś]

Yes i think so too. He played at the San Siro in the second leg. Didn’t they have Salas as well? What a star studded Inter team

Simeone, too. Sure Beckham loved the sight of him.

 

[damageinc.]

Wow must be a great moment for you mate witnessing one of the best in the game

Great memories man, I was lucky enough to have seen Ronaldo in San Siro several times between 1997 and 2002, no need to say that seeing him live was even more scary... I still remember the San Siro’s crowd roaring when he was on control with the ball, his progressions, incredible runs, dribblings and of course goals.... miss these times....
Now we are desperate to get a Lukaku

 

[Schneckerl]

15m was a massive amount, but yes obviously in hindsight it was a bad deal.

It looks like a bad deal at first, but assuming Ronaldo's injuries stay the same would they have done better with Ronaldo (who was out nearly 3 out of 4 seasons) instead of Rivaldo from 97/98 - 00/01?