How Ronaldo's transfer drove Gaspart to despair 25 years ago

Former FC Barcelona vice president Joan Gaspart had never imagined that signing a player would be such risky business, until then-president Josep Lluís Núñez entrusted him with the signing of Brazilian forward Ronaldo. It was July 1996 and, as the vice president - a great specialist in these kinds of operations - confessed, he was left "humiliated", had to deal with "two gunmen", did not sleep "for three days" and also lost weight.

Barça went after Ronaldo, a player who they had been monitoring for some time, to front a new project after the traumatic end to the Cruyff era (1988-1996). With English manager Bobby Robson at the helm, the club's sporting directors had planned to put together a top-class squad for which Ronaldo would be the icing on the cake.

Gaspart started to put the wheels in motion. He spoke to Bill Maeyer, then-president of PSV Eindhoven who held the rights to the player; Ronaldo's agents, Reinaldo Pitta and Alexandre Martins; and Giovanni Branchini, the businessman who represented the player in Europe. Ronaldo, meanwhile, made his position clear: "I want to sign for Barça. I don't want to stay at PSV, I am fed up of [then-coach] Dick Advocaat".

The player, from Brazil's pre-tournament training camp in Miami for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, was constantly on the phone. However, there was one stone in the way: Inter Milan had first-refusal on the player.

PSV ended up giving in. They couldn't retain the young Brazilian striker against his will, and Barça were able to pay the enormous fee that they were asking for the player: 15 million euros. This fee was beyond Inter's budget, having already signed Nigerian forward Kanu that summer.

Barça were given permission to talk to the player and try and reach an agreement. However, as SPORT journalist Toni Frieros explains in his book 'Ronaldo, esta es su vida', the club only had 15 days to complete the signing, with the countdown starting on 11 July 1996.

Negotiations in Miami

Gaspart, Joan Ignasi Brugueras, Josep Lluis Núñez Jr and Josep Borrell flew out to Miami on 15 July to seal the deal. They would stay in the same residence as the Brazilian Olympic team, the Hotel Biltmore. That is where the problems started. Brazil's manager, Américo Faria, gave Gaspart the runaround and would not allow Ronaldo to undergo any medical assessment.

Barça wanted to take a look at Ronaldo's right knee, which he had surgery on in February 1996 back at PSV. Borrell secretly initiated contact with the player in his room and was able to take a first look at his knee, despite the risk of Ronaldo being kicked out of the camp had Brazil's coaches found out what was going on.

Negotiations with Ronaldo's agents didn't go as planned. Various problems emerged and Gaspart was cutting a frustrated figure. He asked PSV for a moratorium due to the statemate in negotiations. He couldn't sleep, he barely ate and he was unable to contact Faria, who was staying on the sixth floor of the hotel and followed everywhere by two bodyguards.

Finally, after endless meetings, an agreement was reached: an eight-year deal with a salary of 250 million pesetas in the first year and successive increases in the following seasons. Barça also agreed to pay the player up to 600,000 pesetas for accommodation, a car and four flights between Spain and Brazil each season. His release clause, which would decrease every season, was set at 4 billion pesetas.

Everything was in place for the player to be officially presented, but Ronaldo, still in Brazil's camp, was unavailable. Eventually, Faria, Zagallo and then-president of the Brazilian Football Federation Ricardo Teixeira reluctantly agreed. While a complete medical assessment was not possible, Ronaldo was officially presented as an FC Barcelona player at 11am on 17 July 1996,.

Anecdotes

The Barça shirt worn in the press conference was provided by SPORT's special envoy. It was given to Gaspart for the event, with the player later giving it to his mother. The vice president was very tough with the Brazilian delegation, which angered Faria and head of press Nelson Borges in particular.

Ronaldo barely spoke, but he was he was "very happy" and that he wanted to "make history with Barça". The vice president uttered a legendary phrase: "Money should be spent on the pitch, not left in the bank or spent on rubbish". He acknowledged that "it has been the toughest negotiation of my life". Gaspart left Miami with a contract signed by Ronaldo in his suitcase and a tube of sleeping pills in his pocket.