Italian football manager Fabio Capello says he’s ‘proud’ that he sold legendary Brazil striker Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2007.
The two-time Ballon d’Or winner had spent four seasons at the club before Capello’s arrival in the summer of 2006 and it wasn’t long before the Italian sold Ronaldo to AC Milan just months later.
The former England coach has now lifted the lid on his reasons behind doing so and insists that the striker was ‘very fond of parties and women’ at the time.
Speaking to A Bola, Capello said:
‘Being a Real Madrid coach is a huge responsibility. In my second spell, the decision to send Ronaldo away and sign Cassano helped to create a winning spirit in the team.’
‘We regained nine points behind Barcelona with 10 games to go, and I’m still proud of that today.’I remember Silvio Berlusconi [former AC Milan owner] calling me to ask how Ronaldo was doing.’
‘I told him that he didn’t even train himself and that he was very fond of parties and women, so hiring him would be a mistake.’
‘The next day I saw the headline in the newspaper and it was Ronaldo in Milan. It was very funny.’