Fabio Capello reveals why he decided to “get rid” of Ronaldo Nazario

At the inauguration of the university year at Limec, former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello was invited to speak to students, and among the quotes were some surprisingly candid stories about Ronaldo Nazario.

Capello, who won two La Liga titles with Real Madrid on two separate occasions, has said in the past that Ronaldo was “the best talent he’s ever coached”, but also was candid today that there were challenges that came with his talent.

“In February 2007 I decided to get rid of Ronaldo Nazario, he was someone who liked to party and encouraged the group to go out with him,” Capello said. “One day Van Nistelrooy came and told me: ‘Sir, it smells like alcohol here in the locker room’ and it was true. Ronaldo weighed 94 kg that year. In Korea, at the 2002 World Cup, he weighed 82. I told him to lose weight… he reached 92.5kg.”

Capello, a supreme disciplinarian, also revealed that he advised AC Milan against signing him, though they paid no attention to him.

“[Silvio] Berlusconi called me one day to ask my advice on a hypothetical purchase of Ronaldo,” Capello explained. “I advised him against doing so, telling him that he was a party animal, and that he only thought about being surrounded by women. He told me: ‘Okay, thank you Fabio.’ The day after, Ronaldo signed for Milan, he didn’t pay attention to me.”