Former goalscoring legend Ronaldo says he never wanted to leave Barcelona after his prolific season at the Nou Camp in the 1996-1997 campaign.
El Fenomeno joined Barca from PSV for a then world record fee and was a huge success in La Liga, netting 34 times in 37 games in the competition and also helping his side win the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
Despite his achievements he then surprisingly moved on to Inter Milan the following summer after his contract renegotiations broke down, setting another world record fee of £19.5m, and the Barcelona president at the time Joan Gaspert recently admitted the club could not resist the money on offer for their star player.
But in an interview with DAZN Italy Ronaldo admitted he would have preferred to spend more time in Spain.
"I'd signed a contract renewal at the end of the season and I went away with the Brazil national team," Ronaldo said.
"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 went on to spend five seasons at Inter, and despite experiencing success he later struggled with injury problems, and eventually left to join Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid.
He is still regarded as one of the greatest strikers to have ever played the sport, and won the Ballon d'Or twice and the World Cup with Brazil twice before eventually retiring in 2011.
Ronaldo is now the majority owner of Real Valladolid after buying a 51% controlling stake in the La Liga club.
