RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil great Ronaldo says he will become the majority shareholder of his old club Cruzeiro.
The 45-year-old Ronaldo, a two-time World Cup winner, and club president Sergio Santos Rodrigues said on Saturday through social media that there was an agreement in principle to buy the club.
Ronaldo began his professional career at Cruzeiro, the club based in Belo Horizonte where he played in 1993 and 1994. Cruzeiro has spent two years in the second division, hurt by financial debts.
“I am happy. There is a lot of work ahead to take Cruzeiro to the place it deserves,” Ronaldo said in a video with Santos Rodrigues and Pedro Mesquita, a partner in Brazilian investment bank XP which is advising on the purchase.
Details of the deal were not released.
On Twitter, Ronaldo posted a blue heart and a fox, Cruzeiro’s mascot.
His arrival at Cruzeiro will be the former striker’s second experience as a club owner. In 2018, he bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Valladolid.
Ronaldo was a three-time world player of the year. He spends much of his time in Spain, where he played for Real Madrid in the galacticos era from 2002-07.
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