The Unusual Journey of Ronaldo Nazario as Club President

When footballers retire from playing sports actively, there are many options for them to do. Since the average footballer retires at around 35 years, they've still got their whole life ahead of them and can build a successful career elsewhere. Many choose to become coaches (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer & Frank Lampard), many choose to become pundits (Gary Neville) some choose to retire from the sports totally (Kaka) but a few chose to become club owners and/or club presidents. This is the path that former Real Madrid striker, Ronaldo Nazario has chosen to follow.

Which club is Ronaldo Nazario President at and what are his investment there?

Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario is the President of the Spanish Segunda side, Real Valladolid. The club got promoted to Spanish top-flight football in 2018 but lost their top-flight status after the 2020/21 season, returning to the Spanish Segunda division. The club plays its home games at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla, which has a capacity of 27,846 seats. 

Ronaldo Nazario became the majority shareholder in Real Valladolid in 2018 when he bought a 51% stake in the club for €30m, this technically made him the owner of the club. Since then, the former hotshot striker has consolidated his position at the club, owning at least 83% of the club's shares as of April 2020. Ronaldo Nazario presided over 3 years in the top-flight before the club slipped back to the second division. 

Will Ronaldo Nazario stay at Real Valladolid? What is his future at Real Valladolid?

Ronaldo Nazario has been seen as a handyman around the club, regularly been present in the club's grounds and even at their games. However, the former Brazilian striker has revealed that he does not intend to stay for life with the Spanish club because he has other plans for the future. The striker though revealed that he has no intention of leaving soon. 

In a December 2020 board meeting, it was decided that Ronaldo Nazario will now earn a salary for his role as President of the club. It was also revealed that the club made a profit of €9m for the year. Club CEO, Carlos Suarez was also removed from his position to be replaced by Frenchman, Matthew Fenaert. David Espinar, Ronaldo Nazario's close friend, was also appointed to the Board of Directors at Real Valladolid.