Retired Real Madrid and Brazil striker Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo has bought a controlling stake in his former club Cruzeiro, the bank advising on the purchase said on Saturday.
Ronaldo, who played for Cruzeiro as a
teenager in the early 1990s before going on to become one of the most
successful centre forwards in footballing history, did the deal with the help
of Brazilian investment bank XP.
The transaction, which was done through
Ronaldo's Tara Sports company and is still subject to what the bank called
"a series of conditions," sees the 45-year-old invest 400 million
reais ($70 million) in the Belo Horizonte club, which has spent two years in
Brazil’s second division.
"I am so happy to have concluded this
operation," he said in a quote on the O Globo web site, adding that he
wants to "give back to Cruzeiro and take them where they deserve to
be."
It is the second foray into management for
the former PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Corinthians
striker. Ronaldo bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid in 2018.
Neither he nor Cruzeiro provided any
significant details but XP said in a statement "it seeks to help the
Brazilian football industry with professionalisation, capitalization and
opening new opportunities."
Ronaldo posted a blue heart and a fox - the
Cruzeiro mascot - on Twitter, and a club spokesperson confirmed the deal.
The club also told its fans they were
"phenomenal", in an apparent reference to Ronaldo’s nickname as a
player, "Ronaldo Fenomeno".
The deal comes a few months after the
Brazilian Congress sanctioned a law allowing football clubs, historically
fan-owned and closed off to outside investors, to become businesses.
"This is the first bit of business in
a relevant new front for the investment banking market in Brazil, the country
of football," said Jose Berenguer, CEO of Banco XP.
"I have no doubt this is
transformational in the history of Brazilian sport. We will have clubs that are
stronger, with the capacity for global investment. Brazilian football will
never be the same again."