Newcastle 'snub' Ronaldo

By Matthew Jones
June 13 2002

Italian sources claim Newcastle have turned down Inter Milan superstar Ronaldo, but continue to be linked with his Brazil team-mate Rivaldo.

Italian sources claim Newcastle have turned down Inter Milan superstar Ronaldo, but continue to be linked with his Brazil team-mate Rivaldo.
Reports in Italy suggest that Inter offered the striker to two Premiership clubs before the World Cup began.

Newcastle and Manchester United are the clubs concerned, but both sides turned down the offer, mainly for financial reasons, with the 25-year-old asking for wages of £100,000 a week, on top of the asking price of £15million.

There have also been doubts over whether the Brazilian has fully recovered from two serious knee operations.

Ronaldo has made only 17 Serie A appearances in the last three seasons, but has looked almost back to his best in Brazil's three winning World Cup appearances, scoring in every game including the epic 5-2 win over Costa Rica this morning.

Meanwhile, The Magpies continue to be linked with Ronaldo's international team-mate Rivaldo - also on the scoresheet against Costa Rica.

But it would still be a huge surprise if they could put together a financial package to attract what many regard as the finest player in the world.