Brazilian icon Ronaldo claims he 'looked a lot' at buying a Championship club, and considered purchasing an MLS team before he acquired Real Valladolid

Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has revealed that he considered buying football teams in the Championship and the United States prior to becoming the majority stakeholder at Real Valladolid.

During a playing career that spanned almost two decades, Ronaldo played for some of the biggest clubs in world football, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.

He also shone on the international stage, lifting the World Cup twice, and winning the tournament's Golden Boot in 2002.

Ronaldo was outstanding in the 2002 World Cup on his way to the coveted Golden Boot

After calling time on his playing days back in 2011, Ronaldo showed an interest in acquiring a football club, and he has claimed that he first set his sights on purchasing an MLS side. 

'I went to New York and I had a meeting with the MLS president and he presented his ideas 'you can win all you want but if you don't have €70m for the franchise, you go nowhere'. That made me reject that project,' Ronaldo told the .

He then explained how he was intrigued by the possibility of purchasing a second-tier English team, only for this plan to be scuppered as well, which forced him to look elsewhere in Europe.  

'I looked a lot, in the [English] Championship but everything was too expensive,' he added.

'The Premier League is a complete success worldwide and so is the Championship, but you had to have £60m, so I then looked in Portugal and Spain, where the prices were more affordable.'

Having not had much joy in the US or England, Ronaldo finally found the ideal opportunity at Real Valladolid. 

He bought a 51 per cent stake in the club three years ago, and has since gone on to become the club president.