Were Inter really considered a bigger club? It’s not like they were winning titles.
PSG wouldn’t sell Mbappe for 250m imo, but different circumstances obviously.
Why did Barcelona let Ronaldo go to Inter?
- Thread starter Sir Scott McToMinay
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PSG wouldn’t sell Mbappe for 250m imo, but different circumstances obviously.
I have to say it was ok business because he was injury prone and quite frankly never on a level of a Ronaldinho or a Messi. And at no point in history (even when Barca had no CL trophies in their collection) was Inter a bigger club. But the italians had a lot of cash to splash back then so he left. Glad to see their league a mockery today
He wasn’t injury prone, his issues came from serious injuries sustained in matches with Inter.
Ronaldo at his best was better than Ronaldinho, or at worst as good.
They could’ve easily played in the same team too, just like they did successfully for Brazil.
Comparing players to Messi is not serious.
Then Ronaldinho. And we will simply have to disagree about who is better of the two but historically it showed not to be a bad move by Barca. A few good seasons with Real didn't change that since Zidane was the man in that team. And here is another idea for a thread title. Why is Figo despised (by Barca fans) for going to Real and Ronaldo is not? Is it because Figo did it directly?
I wouldn't have said so. Italy > Spain at the time, but Barcelona > Inter.
Italian teams had made at least the final of the EC/CL 8 years out of 9 when he went to Inter, Spain 2 out of 9. However, none of those Italian teams were Inter, and Spain's 2 was both Barcelona.
I assume they were selling him the idea of being trying to be Italy's best team which would have made them Europe's/the world's best team, were paying him astronomical wages to match that, and a fair bit more than Barca were.
"British premium": Maguire/Van Dijk
Inter at that time were part of the big 7 of Italy (le sette sorelle) along with Milan,Juventus,Roma,Lazio,Parma,Fiorentina and during that period Moratti was spending way way more than anyone else in Europe (between 1997 - 2004) to buy players.
Barcelona could have benefit of playing more Champions League edition in the '90s becouse at that time (just like nowdays) La Liga was a 2 horse League while Serie A had more competition, and btw I remind you that Inter before Ronaldo during the '90s (which was considered a dark period of the club becouse of the success of Milan and Juve at that time) won 2 Uefa Cups (and lost a final against Schalke in 1997) and later won the third with Ronaldo too. Uefa Cup was way more competitive than the current one that we know, while the last Scudetto was won in 1989. Barcelona won their first CL (and only back then) in 1992 while Inter already 2 in the '60s with just one lesser League title (14 - 13)….
He was a lot better than Ronaldinho.
Back then a player is a player. Good player wins you title, and that's probably it.
These days players like pogba, ronaldo, neymar or messi is a superstar that their value is worth more than their onfield contributions. Image rights etc. Something fans probably dont want to understand.
Juve is winning the serie a 7 times when they bought ronaldo for 100m. They could probably win another 3 without him and still arent guaranteed a cl medal with him. But having ronaldo elevates their image to the rest of the world better to compete with times. It might sounds funny for british who breaths football and raised in a football culture, but for those in other parts of the world they identify themselves with players instead of clubs most of the times.
Having messi in their lineup probably attracts millions of new worldwide supporter for barca alone. These things are miniscule in isolation, but in the grand scheme of things their contribution is huge to the tv rights and all that in the long run.
These days players like pogba, ronaldo, neymar or messi is a superstar that their value is worth more than their onfield contributions. Image rights etc. Something fans probably dont want to understand.
Juve is winning the serie a 7 times when they bought ronaldo for 100m. They could probably win another 3 without him and still arent guaranteed a cl medal with him. But having ronaldo elevates their image to the rest of the world better to compete with times. It might sounds funny for british who breaths football and raised in a football culture, but for those in other parts of the world they identify themselves with players instead of clubs most of the times.
Having messi in their lineup probably attracts millions of new worldwide supporter for barca alone. These things are miniscule in isolation, but in the grand scheme of things their contribution is huge to the tv rights and all that in the long run.
Italy was the league to be in back then and Inter had the cash. If Ronaldo wanted the move, maybe Barca decided it was better to take the money than have an unhappy striker who didn't perform at his max level. I'm not saying Ronaldo did threaten to do that but the club must have had doubts.
Who knows how his career might have turned out if he stayed there. Maybe the injuries were unavoidable but if not, we'd be talking about him with the Maradona's and Messi's of this world.
Who knows how his career might have turned out if he stayed there. Maybe the injuries were unavoidable but if not, we'd be talking about him with the Maradona's and Messi's of this world.
all you need to know about serie a in those years is that you had players like Batistuta staying in Fiorentina for 10 years and winning nothing - while being perfectly fine with that.
Look, we know almost everything of what happened. Barcelona wanted to keep him. Ronaldo wanted to stay. They agreed on terms to a new contract. Then when they met again to sign, something happened. Barcelona claims Ronaldo had gotten a massive offer from inter they couldn't match, while ronaldo said Barcelona had backtracked on their previous agreement and offered him less. Whatever the case, Ronaldo then accepted inter's offer, Inter paid the buyout clause, and that was that
R9 might be one of the worst examples to bring up that argument.
Wrong on pretty much every count.
He was not injury prone when he moved to Inter. That came after.
Age for age, there had never been a player as good as him, and there still hasn't. Even Messi wasn't that good at 20.
And, the 90s were all about Serie A. Only Madrid in Spain could hold a candle to any of the top teams.
He left because Barcelona board screwed him over and he received a great offer to go and play at a higher level. The situation with Inter and Barcelona now is actually quite similar to how it was then, but in reverse.
Aye. Rangers offered the best contract but Ronaldo quite rightly turned it down. Even offered him generous terms around flying in for big games only, apparently. Would have been carnage having a man of his ability in Scotland, he'd probably have had his leg broken by some hammer-thrower.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 SPLRonaldo out partying in Glasgow.
Inter probably had more money. Serie A was the place to be back then. Read a piece on that era the other day. Apparently every winner of the Ballon d'Or between 1980 and 2007 has played in Serie A. Apart from Owen & Igor Belanov.
Ronaldo and his representatives were displeased with Barcelona (specifically Josep Nuñez who wanted the player to be an Eternal Culé) because the president went back on an agreement, or so the story goes according to them. Nuñez and the club wanted to increase Ronaldo's clause to €60 million because some Italian and Scottish teams were circling and they were wary of his representatives' motives — and the agents wanted more money for themselves and Ronaldo (as well as greater image rights).
But negotiations turned hostile before long. Barcelona felt that they had arrived at a deal in principle with the representatives and Ronaldo (Nuñez even announced that the player's contract was extended till 2006), but the agents were adamant nothing was finalized because Ronaldo deserved better than what Barcelona/Nuñez were willing to part with — and were increasingly frustrated with the club's supposed double-dealing in the face of renegotiation.
Enter Massimo Moratti with stars in his eyes and a ton of money for everyone (Barcelona via clause payment that they couldn't officially refuse, the representatives with their sizable commission and Ronaldo with a considerable wage packet), and that was that...mess of a situation resolved pretty quickly with the best lubricant of the modern world. We will never get the exact truth because everyone involved had their own agenda and would want to portray themselves in better light, obviously — that's just how these things go.
P.S. There was also some bad blood between Barcelona and Ronaldo when he left to play in the Tournoi de France with the Seleção (a friendly international tournament before the 1997 Copa América). They practically handed the La Liga title to Madrid with this loss against Hercules in Ronaldo's absence, which rubbed some the wrong way because they felt he wasn't 100% invested despite putting on a show of love in public, and was more concerned with his own profile.
But negotiations turned hostile before long. Barcelona felt that they had arrived at a deal in principle with the representatives and Ronaldo (Nuñez even announced that the player's contract was extended till 2006), but the agents were adamant nothing was finalized because Ronaldo deserved better than what Barcelona/Nuñez were willing to part with — and were increasingly frustrated with the club's supposed double-dealing in the face of renegotiation.
Enter Massimo Moratti with stars in his eyes and a ton of money for everyone (Barcelona via clause payment that they couldn't officially refuse, the representatives with their sizable commission and Ronaldo with a considerable wage packet), and that was that...mess of a situation resolved pretty quickly with the best lubricant of the modern world. We will never get the exact truth because everyone involved had their own agenda and would want to portray themselves in better light, obviously — that's just how these things go.
P.S. There was also some bad blood between Barcelona and Ronaldo when he left to play in the Tournoi de France with the Seleção (a friendly international tournament before the 1997 Copa América). They practically handed the La Liga title to Madrid with this loss against Hercules in Ronaldo's absence, which rubbed some the wrong way because they felt he wasn't 100% invested despite putting on a show of love in public, and was more concerned with his own profile.
Serie A was amazing in 90s to be honest. By far the best league and the one with most money. Ronaldo wanted to leave, Inter matched his release clause and that was the end.
There is an interview Rio is doing with Jose and the question comes up of who is the best and they both mention Messi and Ronaldo and how they are machine like but then both say R9 had it not been for the lifestyle or injuries would be the best. Jose makes a funny quip about could you imagine if Brazilian Ronaldo had Ronaldos mentality or knees.
I think R9 is my favourite player I’ve ever seen. Watching him for that Barca or even at PSV, to see him run with the ball beating people, it was something special can’t think of another player that is anything like him with that power, pace balance and finishing ability.
I think R9 is my favourite player I’ve ever seen. Watching him for that Barca or even at PSV, to see him run with the ball beating people, it was something special can’t think of another player that is anything like him with that power, pace balance and finishing ability.
For a good reason, there wasn’t one.
There's risk with every player and tbh they didn't get a great deal because of the injuries. They never won the Serie A with R9
Serie A paid top dollar at the time. Despite having Ronaldo, Inter continue to make shi**y seasons, finishing bellow top 6 a couple of times.
Newcastle paid £15M for Shearer and Shearer was probably a better finisher than Ronaldo.
Both of these were scoring lots of goals for their clubs and at the time were probably the 2 best strikers available. Ronaldo though, had many other aspects to his game, where Shearer was a "finisher". £20M was fair value and worthy of Ronaldo's talents.
People need to remember that transfer fees have increased and are going to continue increasing, so while £20M in today's money is nothing, back in the mid 90s it was HUGE money.
...and for those who think that today's transfer market is crazy and over-valued, just wait another 5-10 years. I absolutely expect to see the first £300M player in that time.
I think it went further than that, as we did seem to make an approach. I had the treble end of season review on VHS and at the start they shown a clip of Kluivert saying something like they had talks but as far as he was concerned there was only one club in England that summer and it was Arsenal.
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Several reasons, but Núñez, president of Barça from 1978 to 2000, was ultimately the one to blame.
The whole Ronaldo affair was trademark Núñez: buying a rising superstar from any league other than Serie A or England (very difficult to buy players from those two leagues at that time), but with a low (relatively) buy out clause (mistake); the superstar exceels and wants to renegotiate the contract (deservedly, 96-97 Ronaldo was Pelé/Maradona-like) + Núñez gets anxious and/or angry and incoherent (he favoured balance over "overpaid primadonnas") + another rich club steps in and pays the buy out clause + superstar leaves because Núñez still looks anxious and/or angry and probably will pay less than the new club (it was Inter, but it could have been AC, Juve or even Bayern, richer clubs at that time).
Núñez tried to save face claiming that Ronaldo acted like a mercenary whose agents were amoral and corrupt (they were corrupt), but the Barça fans were so angry that the loss of Ronaldo effectively marked the beginning of the end for Núñez (the shock was so big that a certain Joan Laporta created a group that openly opposed the aging/stubborn/cheap Núñez and tried a failed Vote of No Confidence against him.
Not even Rivaldo with two consecutive leagues could erase the memory of 96-97 Ronaldo and the huge expectations he created (especially with Cruyff gone). At least Maradona was an unpleasant little fella with a well-known cocaine addiction, and Romário genuinely wanted to leave in late 1994 and seemed like a lost cause for professional elite football (indiscipline, laziness, lack of motivation after the WC'94). But Ronaldo was young, a huge talent and liked the city/club. With Ronaldo still on board, Barça would have probably won the 97-98 UCL, and Barça fans knew it.
The moral of the story is that subsequent Barça presidents learned that some players are meant to be paid what they ask for, because they are that good. And don't mention Neymar, completely different stories: Ronaldo was not an immature man-child with daddy issues and Inter was not a state-backed club.
Ney's story is similar to Figo's: a mediocre president wasting away huge buy out clause money with rushed signings (Petit-Overmars, Cou-Dembélé)
The whole Ronaldo affair was trademark Núñez: buying a rising superstar from any league other than Serie A or England (very difficult to buy players from those two leagues at that time), but with a low (relatively) buy out clause (mistake); the superstar exceels and wants to renegotiate the contract (deservedly, 96-97 Ronaldo was Pelé/Maradona-like) + Núñez gets anxious and/or angry and incoherent (he favoured balance over "overpaid primadonnas") + another rich club steps in and pays the buy out clause + superstar leaves because Núñez still looks anxious and/or angry and probably will pay less than the new club (it was Inter, but it could have been AC, Juve or even Bayern, richer clubs at that time).
Núñez tried to save face claiming that Ronaldo acted like a mercenary whose agents were amoral and corrupt (they were corrupt), but the Barça fans were so angry that the loss of Ronaldo effectively marked the beginning of the end for Núñez (the shock was so big that a certain Joan Laporta created a group that openly opposed the aging/stubborn/cheap Núñez and tried a failed Vote of No Confidence against him.
Not even Rivaldo with two consecutive leagues could erase the memory of 96-97 Ronaldo and the huge expectations he created (especially with Cruyff gone). At least Maradona was an unpleasant little fella with a well-known cocaine addiction, and Romário genuinely wanted to leave in late 1994 and seemed like a lost cause for professional elite football (indiscipline, laziness, lack of motivation after the WC'94). But Ronaldo was young, a huge talent and liked the city/club. With Ronaldo still on board, Barça would have probably won the 97-98 UCL, and Barça fans knew it.
The moral of the story is that subsequent Barça presidents learned that some players are meant to be paid what they ask for, because they are that good. And don't mention Neymar, completely different stories: Ronaldo was not an immature man-child with daddy issues and Inter was not a state-backed club.
Ney's story is similar to Figo's: a mediocre president wasting away huge buy out clause money with rushed signings (Petit-Overmars, Cou-Dembélé)
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Because every top player wanted to prove themselves in Serie A. By far the best league in the world at that time.
I've heard that his personal life was being intruded on quite a lot and that unsettled him but also that Nunez was a tight bastard. He kept great players on lower wages and seldom (if ever) caved in and paid up.
No it was like 33% more. Also, Shearer at the time of his transfer could lay a serious claim to being the best centre forward in the world. Don't let the fact he was English distract from that, he was an absolute killer.
Absolutely, nail on head.
And was voted 3rd best player in the world in 1996! Behind Ronaldo and winner Sammer.
Don’t get me wrong, Shearer was a great player, I rate him highly, but he was never going to be an all time great, like a top 10 GOAT, Ronaldo was well on course to be that player, he was obviously a very very special player, and so young.
Potentially a decade of having the worlds best no.9 in your side? 33% was a nothing profit, he was worth beyond that.
They were fecked by that clause.
Is it right Ronaldo won just one league title in all his years playing in Spain and Italy? Pretty crazy considering how good he was from 96-99 and then had a revival for a few seasons at Real Madrid. Of course never won the CL either.
Inter was a PSG of the 90s. They got every player they want with strong financial power.
Vieri to Atletico Madrid was the oddest transfer. As the main striker of UCL favourite every year, Why would you went to lower level club for only 19 m euro?
They didn't want to pay him what he felt he deserved.
Same happened with Shearer in England. Clubs werent to far from each other financially in those days. There were probably 20 clubs within 50 million of eachother. The big clubs simply didnt have the means to pay players way more at big clubs.
Yep. 2002/03 with madrid. Technically he did win the CL with milan in '07
Not the case in Italy. There were just 7 mega-rich clubs. Probably the 7 richest in the world at the time at that. Though it would be more correct to say 7 billionaire owners bankrolling their teams
Héctor Cúper's fault. Major bottler.
Inter was not bigger than Barcelona at that time.
I don't know but for me especially, Inter Milan was in the lower end of 7 teams I would watch in term of excitement. Maybe because their style was boring.
1. Lazio (soft spot)
2. Juventus
3. AC Milan
4. Parma
5. Fiorentina
6. Internazionale *
7. AS Roma**
8. Sampdoria
9. Bologna
10. Udinese.
*huge boost (of club profile) when they signed Ronaldo
** huge boost when they signed Batistuta and the emergence of Totti.
I don't know but for me especially, Inter Milan was in the lower end of 7 teams I would watch in term of excitement. Maybe because their style was boring.
1. Lazio (soft spot)
2. Juventus
3. AC Milan
4. Parma
5. Fiorentina
6. Internazionale *
7. AS Roma**
8. Sampdoria
9. Bologna
10. Udinese.
*huge boost (of club profile) when they signed Ronaldo
** huge boost when they signed Batistuta and the emergence of Totti.
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Huge gap.
