THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY: PART 4
Every club has them. The transfers that got away. The kind of ones you think back to and ask: How did we not get the deal over the line?
In this series I have picked out a few transfers, some of them we will be happy to have missed out on, others, and for the most part, will leave you wishing and thinking what if.
PLAYER IN QUESTION: RONALDO
DATE OF INTEREST: 1997
To me Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) is the greatest striker to have ever graced a football field. He had everything. If you made a striker in a lab Dr. Frankenstein style, he would be the perfect creation. Speed, skill and strength, topped off with a finishing ability quite like I’ve never seen before or after. He was the greatest.
Quite how close he actually came to joining us is up for debate. In 1997, Rangers, with the help of sports giants Nike, tabled an offer to Barcelona for R9’s signature.
Nike had recently signed a deal to take over from Adidas in the manufacturing of our kits and, in turn, were looking at stars to showcase teams who wore their kits.
The terms of the deal on offer to Ronaldo to make the move to Glasgow is the stuff of legends. If reports are to be believed, he was offered a 2-year deal with the option to leave after just 12 months, along with only having to play only in European matches.
Quite what made this deal fall apart is also debatable, there is some suggestion that Nike in fact moved the goal posts leading to the break down off the offer. Other motives being, purely, the player himself preferred a move to Italy and Inter Milan.
We may never know the truth or just how close the deal was to completion at any stage, but just imagine the carnage Ronaldo would have caused to the SPL.
Tell me your thoughts.
Steven Harrigan
@steven_harrigan
@rangersnewsuk