Ronaldo reveals he never wanted to leave Barcelona but playing for Real Madrid was a "dream"

Ronaldo has revealed that he did not want to leave Barcelona for Inter in 1997.The Brazilian is widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all-time, having scored 352 goals in 518 club appearances.The World Cup winner also found the back of the net 62 times in 98 games for his country, a record bettered by only Pele.Ronaldo spent just a single season at the Camp Nou, although it was arguably the most sensational of his career.The centre-forward scored 47 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions, helping Barcelona to win both the Cup Winners' Cup and the Copa del Rey.However, he was on the move in summer 1997, joining Inter for a then-world record fee of £17m.Ronaldo won the UEFA Cup in his debut campaign at the San Siro, and also collected the Ballon d'Or shortly after moving to Italy.However the 43-year-old says it was never his intention to leave Barcelona after just one season at the club."I’d signed a contract renewal at the end of the season and I went away with the Brazil national team," he told DAZN Italy.“Five days later, they called me to tell me that I couldn’t continue with the renewal.“It was never in my hands. I wanted to stay. If the club didn’t value me as I thought they should, then the decision wasn’t in my hands. I would have liked to have stayed, but it wasn’t up to me.”Ronaldo later joined Barcelona's arch-rivals, Real Madrid,spending four seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.And the Brazilian says he fulfilled a dream when he moved tolos Blancosin 2002.“I joined Madrid because I just wanted to play there. My dream was to play for Madrid one day and I fought hard so that it could happen," he added."Roberto Carlos was with me in the national team and he was always telling me what Real Madrid meant for everyone. That left a very good impression and after some years I wanted to see it with my own eyes."The truth is it is a bigger club than he was telling me. There’s a big expectation every time and also a lot of pressure because we always have the world’s best players. I loved to know that I could make Real Madrid an even bigger club."READ MOREPremFlix: Is a Premier League streaming service actually a good idea?Jadon Sancho will leave Borussia Dortmund this summer – but he shouldn't come back to EnglandRio Ferdinand reveals his greatest ever Manchester United game... was a 0-0 draw