‘He parties a lot’ - Ex-Real Madrid manager opens up on convincing the club to sell Ronaldo

Ronaldo enjoyed a prolific spell at the Santiago Bernabeu between 2002 and 2007, scoring an impressive 83 goals in 127 appearances for Los Blancos.

His impressive performance earned him two Ballon d’Or awards, with the first award coming at the age of 21 in 1997.

However, his on-field brilliance was often overshadowed by his off-field activities, a fact that did not sit well with his manager.

The Italian coach, who was Ronaldo’s coach at that time, eventually concluded that the situation was untenable and urged then-president Ramon Calderon to sell the player.

"Ronaldo is the best player I've ever coached," Capello told AS, via Daily Mail. "He was a guy who loved to go out partying every night, he was crazy and 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's arrival coincided with the tail end of the "Galacticos" era. The club's signing of Ruud van Nistelrooy from Manchester United that same year was a clear signal that Ronaldo's time in the Spanish capital was coming to an end. 

After leaving Madrid, Ronaldo spent just one season at AC Milan before returning to Brazil to play for Corinthians, where he concluded his illustrious career in 2011.