Real Madrid abandon bid for unsettled Ronaldo

By James Whelan

REAL MADRID'S sporting director Jorge Valdano has confirmed the European Champions have abandoned their attempt to sign Inter Milan's Brazilian World Cup star Ronaldo.

"There is now no time to restart negotiations," Valdano said at the weekend.

"The transfer deadline expires in a week and there is no chance of concluding a deal by then.

"I don't know what might happen in six months or a year, but on this occasion the negotiations are definitively closed."

Valdano said a hardening in the bargaining stance of the Italian club was the reason behind the collapse of the proposed deal to sign the Brazilian who was top scorer in his nation's triumphant World Cup campaign.

"What happened is that their initial stance changed and ... they then adopted a very tough stance," he said.

"We stuck to our initial proposals in which we made it clear from the start that Ronaldo was not a strategic signing for the club and that we were not prepared to go mad to sign him."

Real have broken the world transfer record twice in the last two years to sign Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane.

The club paid $66 million to bring Frenchman Zidane to the Bernabeu last July.

This time the reigning European champions were reported to be offering Inter between $13 million and $20 million plus players valued at $30 million for the Brazilian.

However, Inter were believed to be demanding up to $80 million for the two-times World Player of the Year winner.

Valdano said that it was Ronaldo who had approached Real in the first place and that the success or failure of the deal had depended on whether Inter were prepared to release their unsettled star.

"Ronaldo was the only one who had a clear desire to change clubs and he came knocking at Real Madrid's door," he said.

"During the whole process there was the possibility that Inter might change their position, but at the moment of truth they got tough and it became impossible to reach an agreement."

The 25-year-old striker, who had been awaiting developments in Brazil, finally returned to Milan on Saturday.

A private car whisked him away from the airport runway so that he did not have to run the gauntlet of irate Inter fans anxious to vent their feeling against their former idol.

Ronaldo joined Inter from Barcelona in 1997 but has spent most of the last three seasons on the sidelines following a serious knee injury. His contract runs until 2006.