• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Ronaldo Nazario was offered contract by European giants that featured bizarre 'no Saturdays' clause

Home> Football> Football News

Published 16:50 6 Jun 2025 GMT+1

Ronaldo Nazario was offered contract by European giants that featured bizarre 'no Saturdays' clause

Ronaldo Nazario is one of the finest players of all time.

Marcus Chan

Marcus Chan

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Ronaldo, Football, Rangers

Marcus Chan
Marcus Chan

Advert

Advert

Advert

Brazilian great Ronaldo Nazario was once offered a contract by a big European team that included a bizarre 'no Saturdays' clause.

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, more commonly known as Ronaldo or R9, is one of the finest players of his generation.

During what was a wonderful career, the striker played for the likes of Cruzerio, PSV, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Corinthians.

Advert

The Brazilian lifted multiple trophies and also won the Ballon d'Or in 1997 and 2002.

Ronaldo never played in England but was actually offered the chance to play in Scotland by Rangers.

R9's former agent, Giovanni Branchini, recalled the Scottish side's offer, which came through in 1997.

Advert

As reported by Give Me Sport, he said: "The clause in his contract was a novelty at the time and it scared a lot of clubs off.

"The three who were really interested were Inter, Lazio and Glasgow Rangers, who followed negotiations all the way. The offer from Glasgow Rangers was incredible."

Branchini went on to explain that Rangers had offer to use R9 solely for European matches.

He continued: "They told us he didn't have to play on a Saturday in the Scottish league. They were desperate to win the Champions League and were going to allow him to play in the European matches only.

Advert

"But Inter had followed him from when he used to play in Brazil. Barcelona reneged on a new contract and Inter were the first club to meet the release clause, so he went there."

Ronaldo Nazario is a football legend. Image: Getty
Ronaldo Nazario is a football legend. Image: Getty

In total, Ronaldo played 518 club matches in his career, scoring 352 goals.

On the international stage, the striker was capped 98 times by Brazil, netting 62 times in the process.

Advert

In 2011, Ronaldo decided to call time on his player career after being hampered by multiple injuries.

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
5 hours ago
6 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • 4 hours ago

    Man City fans are very concerned after spotting Rayan Cherki like four-word Instagram comment

    Manchester City fans are worried that a deal for Lyon and France Rayan Cherki might not get done.

    Football
  • 5 hours ago

    Ange Postecoglou tipped for shock move to Spurs' Premier League rivals after being sacked by Europa League winners

    Ange Postecoglou ended Spurs' 17-year trophy drought but was sacked after a poor run in the Premier League.

    Football
  • 6 hours ago

    Man City 'set price' for Jack Grealish with four Premier League clubs ready to move and it looks like a typo

    Jack Grealish looks set to leave Manchester City four years on from a club-record £100 million move.

    Football
  • 7 hours ago

    Forgotten England player's international career officially lasted zero minutes but still isn't the shortest on record

    The England player made just one appearance for his country and it didn't even last a full minute.

    Football
  • Rivaldo named shock England player as the only one would get in Brazil's World Cup-winning team from 2002
  • Jose Mourinho tipped to snub European giants and take shock Premier League job instead
  • Two European giants 'interested' in signing Mo Salah amid doubts over new Liverpool contract
  • Arsenal 'in talks' over shock signing from one of their biggest rivals for release clause that fans had no idea about