Former Real Madrid boss, Fabio Capello, has spoken about how Ronaldo ballooned in weight before he ditched the Brazilian legend at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo played for Real between 2002-07 during an electrifying run in his career in which he netted 83 times for Los Blancos in 127 games.
For all of Ronaldo’s scintillating ability and performances on the pitch, Capello was known as a strict disciplinarian and eventually demanded to president Ramon Calderon that it was time for the striker to move on.
He told AS: ‘Ronaldo is the best player I’ve ever coached. He was a guy who loved to go out partying every night, he was crazy, he weighed 94 kilos and didn’t want to lose weight.
‘At one point I told the president that we had to let him go, there was no hope of moving forward. And so we let him go. But, I repeat, he’s the best I’ve ever coached.’
Capello took charge of Real in 2006 for the second time at what nearing the end of the famous Galacticos era.
Fabio Capello (left) says Ronaldo (right) piled on the pounds and went partying all the time
Ronaldo (left) weighed as much as 94kilos according to his former manager
Real signed Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United despite already having Ronaldo on the books, which was a sure sign of an impending departure.
And the Brazilian then left for AC Milan but Capello did not last long at the Bernabeu, getting sacked despite leading them to the league title.
Ronaldo has previously spoken about his wild partying while he was one of the world’s biggest stars in Spain’s capital.
‘I was at all of them. I played on Saturday and then went to Paris. I spent Sunday in Paris and went to the party at night.
‘At seven in the morning, I caught the plane to Madrid and arrived at nine in the morning with training at ten. I did this many times,’ he told Charla Podcast, as recounted by Cadena SER.
‘In the city you play in, you either have a house party or you’re done for. So I branched out and travelled.
‘I’ve always been one to throw parties and make sure everyone is happy.’
Despite his lack of professionalism, Ronaldo says he still worked hard in training, adding: ‘I didn’t know what you had to do to be a player, so I did what was shown to me.
‘To rise to the top, you have to develop technically, tactically, and physically. People often tell me I was a beast physically, and what a gift it was.
‘Damn, I trained a lot. Nobody gets there that fast without training.’
Ronaldo only lasted a season with AC Milan having left Real before returning to his homeland for a couple more years at Corinthians where he retired in 2011.
