Brazilian Ronaldo close to buying Spanish club

MADRID: World Cup winner Ronaldo has reached a deal to buy 51 per cent of La Liga club Valladolid a regional daily reported on Saturday, citing "sources close to the operation."

El Norte de Castilla, which is based in Valladolid said Ronaldo was paying 30 million euros ($34.8 million) and would complete the deal next week.

"The Brazilian star reached an agreement with Carlos Suarez, owner of more than 60 per cent of the shares of the company, on Thursday evening," the newspaper wrote.

Ronaldo's press secretary, David Espinar, told AFP by email that he was not prepared to comment on the story.

The Spanish media have been reporting the former Real Madrid and Barcelona striker's interest in Valladolid round the time the club won promotion back to the Spanish first division in May.

The newspaper said Ronaldo was attracted by the way the club is being run and that the takeover would not "lead to great changes in the club structure" and that Suarez, who has run the club for 17 years, would continue as president and Sergio Gonzalez would remain head coach.

"Ronaldo does not want to be the visible head and prefers to stay in the background," the newspaper wrote.

The report said the two sides had tried to negotiate as discretely as possible to avoid having an impact on the club's dealings in the summer transfer window, which closed on Friday.

Ronaldo, who is 41, was the tournament's top scorer as Brazil won the World Cup in 2002 and was also part of the winning squad in 1994. His long list of individual honours include winning the FIFA player of the year three times and the Ballon D'Or twice. "Il Fenomeno" retired in 2011.