World Cup winner and Brazilian legend Ronaldo has bought a stake in his boyhood club Cruzeiro.David S.
Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images
Retired Real Madrid 5️⃣ and Brazil striker Ronaldo has bought a controlling stake in his former club Cruzeiro, the player and the club said 5️⃣ on Saturday.
Ronaldo, who played for Cruzeiro as a teenager in the early 1990s before going on to become one of 5️⃣ the most successful centre forwards in footballing history, did the deal with the help of Brazilian investment bank XP.
- ESPN 5️⃣ FC 100: Ranking the world's best players by position
- ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
- Stream ESPN 5️⃣ FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S.only)
The transaction, which was done through Ronaldo's Tara Sports company and is still subject to what 5️⃣ the bank called "a series of conditions," sees the 45-year-old invest 400 million reais ($70 million) in the Belo Horizonte 5️⃣ club, which has spent two years in Brazil's second division.
"I am so happy to have concluded this operation," Ronaldo said 5️⃣ in a video posted by the Cruzeiro president, adding, while holding one of the club's blue shirts, that he wants 5️⃣ to "give back to Cruzeiro and take them where they deserve to be."
"We have a lot of hard to work 5️⃣ to do.
There's nothing to celebrate yet but we bring a lot of hard work and the ambition to make Cruzeiro 5️⃣ great again."
On Sunday, he wrote on Instagram: "It's my turn to try and open doors for the team.Not as a 5️⃣ hero.
Not with superpowers to single-handedly change reality.
But with immense responsibility.
With intelligent and sustainable management for medium- and long-term growth."
"I don't 5️⃣ have all the answers to the questions that I ask myself and I possibly won't have all the answers to 5️⃣ the questions that you will ask me," he wrote in an open letter to fans.
"What I do know is that 5️⃣ the kid who learnt at Cruzeiro that dreams can come true today makes me believe that it is possible to 5️⃣ rescue the club from its crisis."
It is the second foray into management for the former PSV Eindhoven, Internazionale, AC Milan, 5️⃣ Barcelona and Corinthians striker.
Ronaldo bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid in 2018.
Neither he nor Cruzeiro provided any 5️⃣ significant details but XP said in a statement "it seeks to help the Brazilian football industry with professionalisation, capitalization and 5️⃣ opening new opportunities."
Ronaldo posted a blue heart and a fox -- the Cruzeiro mascot -- on Twitter, and a club 5️⃣ spokesperson confirmed the deal.
Cruzeiro also told the fans they were "phenomenal", in a reference to Ronaldo's nickname as a player, 5️⃣ "Ronaldo Fenomeno".
The deal comes a few months after the Brazilian Congress sanctioned a law allowing football clubs, historically fan-owned and 5️⃣ closed off to outside investors, to become businesses.
"This is the first bit of business in a relevant new front for 5️⃣ the investment banking market in Brazil, the country of football," said Jose Berenguer, CEO of Banco XP.
"I have no doubt 5️⃣ this is transformational in the history of Brazilian sport.
We will have clubs that are stronger, with the capacity for global 5️⃣ investment.
Brazilian football will never be the same again."
