Ronaldo the owner: ‘Before he was seen as a god, now he’s like the devil’

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Kick-off in Real Valladolid’s La Liga game against Getafe is a few hours away but the party has already started outside the Estadio Jose Zorilla.

It is the annual fans day at Valladolid’s home ground, organised by the club’s supporters’ groups. Adults sit around chatting and kids shoot balls at inflatable goalposts local while rock and flamenco groups provide entertainment.

Paying €10 gets you a plate of paella and two drinks from the temporary bar, plus a wristband which says ‘united by the badge’. It is a pointed message towards Ronaldo Nazario, the legendary former Brazil, Barcelona and Real Madrid forward who bought Valladolid in 2019, and whose initial popularity with fans has long since worn away.

“Ronaldo is one of the best players in football history, nobody doubts that,” says Mario Puertas, the president of the official federation of supporters club, the Federacion de Penas del Real Valladolid. “He’s also one of the worst club owners ever. Ask any fan of Valladolid. Before he was seen as a god; now he’s like the devil.”

It has been six months since the two-time Ballon d’Or winner, twice World Cup winner and 98-cap former Brazil forward has attended a Valladolid home game. Meanwhile, his team have been rooted to the bottom of the La Liga table.

Spotting a big ‘Ronaldo go now’ banner near the bar at the fans party, The Athletic asked what would happen if the former galactico came by to share a beer with supporters.

“This is the worst Valladolid team in history, so if he came, it could be a problem,” Puertas replied. “I’m not talking about violence, but lots of protests.”

Inside the stadium before kick-off, the the club anthem is sung lustily, and many white-and-violet scarves are twirled. Any optimism is punctured within the first 60 seconds when a mistake by home goalkeeper Andre Ferreira helps Getafe midfielder Mauro Arambarri make it 1-0.

Angry chants of “Ronaldo, go now” ring around the stadium, and more yellow banners appear calling for the Brazilian to leave the club.

By half-time, Getafe are 3-0 ahead. Midway through the second half, on the home bench, unused substitute Luis Perez strikes his own team-mate Juanmi Latasa.

Tremenda esta imagen de Luis Pérez con Latasa 😳 pic.twitter.com/tzVrRu8ML9

— Juan Carlos Taura (@JCTaura) April 6, 2025

All the fight has gone out of the Valladolid team on the pitch, and a fourth Getafe goal brings a rush for the exits. “Explain in your article that Ronaldo is a terrible president, he’s ruined a historic club,” a Valladolid-born season ticket holder tells The Athletic on the way out.

That was on April 6. Valladolid then lost 4-2 to Atletico Madrid, 3-2 to Osauna and Thursday’s 5-1 hammering at Real Betis confirmed a third relegation from La Liga in five seasons, which everybody at the club knew was coming a long time ago. What comes next for Ronaldo and the club he owns is not so clear.

A fan holds up a banner against Ronaldo’s ownership at a Valladolid home game (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

It was not always like this.

When Ronaldo took over Spanish football’s 13th most successful club by La Liga points in September 2018, spending just over €20m of his own money, he was warmly welcomed in Valladolid, a proud Castilian city with a population of 300,000 whose team had experienced serious financial problems.

“When Ronaldo came to Valladolid everyone was excited, for two reasons,” Puertas tells The Athletic. “We were coming out of a very bad period, the club had almost disappeared for not paying its bills. And Ronaldo was a well-known figure, who could help the team become better known globally.”

The Brazilian was also very personally wealthy, having cleverly used his name and connections made during his glittering playing career, which included those Ballon d’Or wins in 1997 and 2002. On arrival at Valladolid, a DAZN documentary was released called ‘Ronaldo: el Presidente’ — part of a plan to ‘sell’ the club’s brand around the world — and Ronaldo embraced his role with gusto. He also built relationships locally, hosting dinners with representatives of different supporters groups.

“The first year Ronaldo spent a lot of time here,” Puertas says. “He’s a very friendly guy, he asked what were our problems, our concerns, and how he could help us.”

Supporters take selfies with Ronaldo in happier times for the club (Real Valladolid)

When Valladolid finished his first season in charge safe from relegation, Ronaldo treated the team to a surprise trip to Ibiza. The DAZN documentary showed him personally piloting a speedboat to take the team’s excited players to a private beach.

“If we can establish ourselves in the Primera Division (the Spanish top-flight), restructure the club and make all the investments we’re planning, in five years the normal thing is to be battling for Champions League qualification,” Ronaldo said at the World Football Summit in September 2019. “That might be scary at the moment, but why not think big?”

That five-year plan looked especially ambitious as Valladolid were relegated to the second division in June 2021, bounced straight back up the following year, only to drop down again 12 months later.

Ronaldo’s name and charisma continued to attract attention. When the team were promoted in June 2022 he kept a promise to cycle with his wife some of the old Camino de Santiago pilgrim’s route from Valladolid to Santiago de Compostela — the city where he scored an iconic solo goal as a Barcelona player in 1996.

Ronaldo’s personal magnetism did not extend to convincing top players to join him at Valladolid.

Initial hopes of possibly luring Brazilian stars, even perhaps a teenage Vinicius Junior on loan from Madrid, were never realistic. A promise on arrival to run his club as a business has been kept — about €55m has been spent on new signings, while around €80m has been made in player sales during Ronaldo’s presidency.

The biggest investment was €9m in July 2022 for Ecuadorian winger Gonzalo Plata, who was sold 12 months later to Saudi Arabian team Al-Sadd for €12m. When players have emerged — Ghana defender Mohammed Salisu, Canada striker Cyle Larin or young right-back Ivan Fresneda — they have often been quickly sold to raise funds and balance the books, in line with La Liga’s strict financial controls.

Money has been spent during Ronaldo’s presidency — inherited tax debts of €25m have been cleared, with €20m spent on improving the club’s facilities. An unloved ‘moat’ around the Estadio Jose Zorilla pitch was removed while amenities for players, club staff and supporters improved considerably. The club’s business activities were professionalised and its charitable foundation’s activities grew.

“The changes to the stadium are huge, the installations, the training ground,” Valladolid’s corporate director Jorge Santiago tells The Athletic. “The club’s off-pitch structure and its brand has grown a lot. But when the ball does not go in, that’s not so important for fans, logically.”

An important moment in Ronaldo’s relationship with the fans was an attempt to ‘modernise’ the club badge by simplifying it in 2022. The issue dragged on for almost 18 months before 88 per cent of season ticket holders voted to keep the old historic design in December 2023.

“The turning point, when everything broke between the fans and the club, was the change of badge,” Puertas says. “You cannot touch the club’s badge, its colours. Ronaldo called those fans who criticised him ‘ultras’. That was when he seemed to lose interest.”

Valladolid’s supporters have remained loyal to their team through the ups and downs. They had 21,849 season ticket holders in 2023-24, a record for any Spanish second-division club. Those supporters watched another promotion to the top-flight for the current season, with Ronaldo there for the celebrations in the city’s main square.

Lo logramos, Afición.
¡SOMOS DE PRIMERA!

Estoy muy orgulloso de ver cómo el trabajo de todo el año se vio recompensado ayer. Este ascenso es de TODOS, afición, staff, cuerpo técnico, jugadores. Todos habéis conseguido devolver al Pucela al lugar que le corresponde.

Ahora, toca… pic.twitter.com/PQd9Xp67Co

— Ronaldo Nazário (@Ronaldo) May 27, 2024

But doubts remained over his long-term commitment to the project. Valladolid had always been just one of his business activities and not the most lucrative. Since retirement, the 48-year-old has branched into many areas, including marketing, finance, media and property.

His R9 Gestao Patrimonial company now manages hundreds of millions of dollars in investments for athletes and entertainers. Ronaldo has a stake in sports marketing agency Octagon Brasil, where Real Madrid forward Rodrygo and Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus are clients. He has an e-sports agency called Odzz Network. His BeyondFilms company produced the 2022 feature-length documentary ‘The Phenomenon: The rise, fall and redemption of Ronaldo’.

Rodrygo and Jesus were never going to join a team yo-yoing through promotions and relegations. But Ronaldo brought two executives from Octagon to Valladolid — Matt Fenaert as chief executive and Gabriel Lima as head of business development. Ronaldo’s former team-mate at Brazilian side Corinthians, Paulo Andre, became the club’s director of sporting strategy, overseeing most football decisions.

Sources close to long-time club staff — who, like all those consulted for this article, declined to be named to protect relationships — have told The Athletic about frustration at some of those decisions, particularly when it comes to transfers. A name that often comes up is Brazilian forward Kenedy — Valladolid’s biggest earner since he joined from Chelsea in summer 2022 who has scored just twice in 44 games.

Kenedy has scored twice in 44 games (Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

“It’s not that Ronaldo wants to destroy Valladolid,” Puertas says. “But to run this club, he used his own people, who he trusted. And they did not know Valladolid, the club, the city, the fans.”

Ronaldo’s ‘empire’ grew in December 2021 when he bought 90 per cent of Brazilian club Cruzeiro. Andre and Lima moved to work there, leading to concerns in Valladolid about their president’s priorities. After Cruzeiro gained promotion to the top flight, it was sold in April 2024, making an estimated £30m profit for Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, in Valladolid, few new players were added last summer, leaving the team unprepared for this season in La Liga. Then, last December, Ronaldo announced a bid to become the next Brazilian football association (CBF) president, telling Globo Esporte that his ownership of Valladolid “won’t be an obstacle to my candidacy” as “we’re negotiating a possible sale very soon”.

In March, Ronaldo withdrew his CBF candidacy, but Valladolid were now publicly up for sale, just as the team’s rollercoaster had entered its worst dip yet.

Last November, Valladolid lost 2-0 at Getafe and slipped to last place in La Liga. That same day, Ronaldo was in Brazil playing alongside fellow former international players Kaka and Alexandre Pato in a ‘Galacticos Open’ tennis tournament. The charity event, organised by his personal charitable foundation, was streamed live to more than 400,000 followers on the RonaldoTV Twitch channel.

“If the team was seventh in the table, the fans wouldn’t really care,” Puertas says. “But it was dumb to publicise it on social media, when your club was losing at Getafe. It’s an example of what’s happening here in Valladolid.”

The following week saw the biggest protests of Ronaldo’s presidency at the Zorilla. Before kick-off, the ‘Fondo Norte’ area behind the goal on the north side of the stadium was empty, except for two fans playing a pretend game of tennis. Any smiles had disappeared when visitors Atletico Madrid went 3-0 up by half-time and Valladolid eventually lost 5-0.

Real Valladolid – Atlético de Madrid
Ronaldo Go Home pic.twitter.com/oMhQTSbIkj

— Komando Violeta (@komandovioleta) December 2, 2024

Coach Paulo Pezzolano was replaced by Argentine Diego Cocca, but results did not improve. With new signings badly needed, the January transfer window instead saw the promising defender Juma Bah lost to Manchester City for €6m after the teenager’s contract situation was bungled.

“Many people say the squad is worse than last year, players left and were not replaced, but there will be many reasons, not just one, for a really bad season like this,” says the club’s corporate director Santiago. “The team, players and coaches have not lived up to expectations.”

Cocca lasted just eight games and managed one win before he was fired after a 4-0 loss at home to Sevilla in February. Youth coach Alvaro Rubio became the senior team’s third manager of the season, starting with a 7-1 defeat at Bilbao’s Athletic Club. Promotion from within has also taken place at executive level. Faenaert’s replacement as chief executive was the club’s previous finance director, Luis Garcia.

“Results have been so bad that we’re all very angry and frustrated,” says the locally-born Santiago, who has worked for the club since 1992. “But internally we don’t feel that Ronaldo has abandoned Valladolid. Our president is a world star, with parts of his life all around the globe. He talks daily to our director general and the sporting director. He has high demands, but he lets you get on with your job.”

Although Ronaldo has long stopped hosting dinners for Valladolid supporters, he attended last December’s club AGM and visited the club offices in early March. Last October, he spent €5.6m in a share offering to help pay this season’s costs — meaning he has now invested more than €35m and owns 88 per cent of the club.

But the club appears to be drifting until an eventual sale. When Ronaldo’s Valladolid project was advancing, there were hopes it could be worth €100m or more. Local industry sources now value it at around half that figure, or even less with relegation now confirmed.

“Ronaldo is a businessman, and he said he wanted to invest, grow the club, then sell it after some years,” says Puertas. “We thought that was fine, make your profit, leave the club established in Primera, everyone happy. The problem is the club could now be worth less than when he bought it.”

In May 2024, Ronaldo rejected an offer led by locally-based construction firm INEXO. The Athletic has reported that Liverpool’s owners FSG visited Valladolid while looking at potential Spanish clubs to buy, but the idea has not progressed further. Initial negotiations last autumn with Egyptian financed Mansour Group, who already own new Major League Soccer team San Diego, also went nowhere.

“I’ve received offers which do not correspond to what the club is worth,” Ronaldo said in March. “We’re working every day so the next owners get a club in very good condition. There’s talks (now), but no offers.”

Sources familiar with Ronaldo’s thinking accept that relegation changes the asking price. They also say he will only sell to buyers with a serious sporting project, and that he is prepared to wait for a serious offer.

A problem with that idea is the current feeling of limbo. About half of Valladolid’s squad are out of contract in June. Sporting director Domingo Catoira is also set to leave, while Rubio is not expected to continue as first-team coach. A new €15m training ground project has been stalled since a change of city government in 2023.

Valladolid’s fans and staff want to believe things can get better again, whether Ronaldo stays or goes. But it is difficult to be positive when the team’s last 13 games have brought 12 defeats and a draw. With five games remaining, the team are on course to be the third-worst in La Liga history, as the graphic below shows (graphic does not include Thursday’s defeat at Betis – now 25 defeats, 24 goals for and 81 against).

Few would bet on another quick return to La Liga given the present feeling of doom and gloom, but it has happened before.

“For two years now we’ve been hearing about a sale, and it seems conversations are closer now, but it’s not something that affects us internally,” says Santiago.

“We’re already planning for next season, to build a sporting project to fight for promotion back to Primera. We work 100 per cent for Real Valladolid — Ronaldo is currently our majority shareholder, but the club is above everything.”

Additional contributor: Thom Harris

(Top photo: Real Valladolid)

This news was originally published on this post .

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