“Valladolid is next”

Former Brazilian football player Ronaldo Nazario de Lima hinted this Monday that after the sale of 90% of the shares Cruzeiro A local businessman says he will seek to divest himself of Spanish side Real Valladolid, a club he also controls.

“I’ll be very quick (to answer), Valladolid is next,” the former Brazilian striker said at a press conference alongside new Cruzeiro owner Pedro Lourenço when asked about the future of his involvement in the championship. white and purple team.

Ronaldo announced this Monday that he sold the Belo Horizonte club after 2 years and 4 months at the helm of a team in which he began to distinguish himself as a player.

Neither party disclosed the amount of the transaction, although the Brazilian press claims it amounted to approximately 600 million reais (almost 120 million dollars), which is 200 million reais ($40 million) more than the amount paid for these 90% shares in December 2021.

The 2002 World Cup champion in Korea and Japan foresaw that, following the agreement reached with Lourenço, he was considering taking a “sabbatical” until “something appears there”, an apparent reference to the business that is emerging in his native country. a country. .

“I’ll probably do something related to the football industry in the future, I’ll just try to be more responsible in future projects,” he said.

Ronaldo decided to buy Cruzeiro when it was playing in the second division of the Brazilian championship and “on the verge” of bankruptcy, with debts of “1.3 billion reais”($250 million or 240 million euros at today’s exchange rate).

He managed to get him into the first division, although last year the blue team almost lost the category again, which began to create a negative climate regarding his figure as the top leader of the club.

The criticism continued this year after a defeat in the Mineiro Championship final to arch-rivals Atlético Mineiro and a poor start in the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana.

In addition, Ronaldo was also questioned as president Real Valladolidwho are fighting to return to the top tier of Spanish football this season.