Ronaldo almost joined Rangers in 1997, reveals agent

Bengaluru, July 18: Legendary former Brazilian striker Ronaldo had almost joined Scottish giants Rangers in 1997 from FC Barcelona.

After a prolific season at Camp Nou where Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 matches in all competitions for Barcelona, several clubs Lazio, Rangers and Inter Milan had approached him.

Ronaldo ultimately joined Inter Milan where he had spent 5 seasons before joining Real Madrid in 2002.

In 1997 Ronaldo had won the FIFA World Player of the Year award and Rangers where very close to signing him as they placed a lucrative offer for the striker. Unfortunately for the club, the deal never materialised.

Speaking about Rangers' offer, Ronaldo's agent, Giovanni Branchini said: "The clause in his contract was a novelty at the time and it scared a lot of clubs off.

"The three who were really interested were Inter, Lazio and Glasgow Rangers, who followed negotiations all the way.

"The offer from Glasgow Rangers was incredible.

"They told us he didn't have to play on a Saturday in the Scottish league. They were desperate to win the Champions League and were going to allow him to play in the European matches only.

"But Inter had followed him from when he used to play in Brazil. Barcelona reneged on a new contract and Inter were the first club to meet the release clause, so he went there."

The Brazilian genius have won the FIFA World Player of the Year thrice in his career. His international career was illustrious as his club, which is rare find.

He had won two FIFA World Cups with Brazil and was also the highest goal scorer in FIFA World Cup until Germany's Miroslav Klose broke the record in 2014.

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