RONALDO?

Last updated : 04 August 2002 By Editor

From The NOTW:

Wherever Nike have gone down the years, Ronaldo has soon followed:

At the tender age of 17 after joining the Nike stable he was transfered to PSV Eindhoven-just after they became the club's official supplier.

Two years later he arrived at Barcelona after the firm had tied up the biggest sponsorship deal in world football with the Catalan giants.

A year on he arrived at Inter in a £23m deal after Nike again moved in with a £125m sponsorship programme.

Ronaldo is also an integral part of the £7m-a-year deal the company have as official supplier to the Brazilian national team.

SAF has been offered the chance to buy Ronaldo and will go to head to head with Real Madrid in a bank-busting bid for the world's number one superstar.

Real Madrid’s Director of Sport Jorge Valdano admitted Saturday that he had had a brief meeting with the agent for Brazil's World Cup hero Ronaldo.

But he warned that the club was not poised to sign the goal ace from Inter Milan. "I do not want to create false expectations," said Valdano.

He explained that Ronaldo's agent Alexandre Martins had told him that the player was not happy with the Italian club, wanted to leave and expressed a wish to join Real.

Insisted Valdano: "There has not been any contact on our part to sign Ronaldo. I telephoned Inter directors in front of the player's agent to assure them that there had not been any approach to the player from our side.

"Ronaldo is not a strategic player for Madrid as Figo and Zidane were. But of course we do follow the progress of players of his class."

Valdano added: "Look, Real receives about 14 agents of good players every day. And this is one of them."