FABIO CAPELLO has revealed the “best player” he managed - and why he then SACKED them at Real Madrid.
The no-nonsense Italian was England manager between 2007 to 2012 but had previously enjoyed two stints in charge at the Bernabeu.
Capello, 78, spent the 1996/97 season there before returning for another 12 months in 2006.
His second stint with Madrid was at the height of the Galactico era, where the LaLiga giants boasted an array of the finest players on the planet.
Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Robinho, Raul and Sergio Ramos were just some of the star names.
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But Capello says Brazilian legend Ronaldo was the “best” of the bunch, even if he did have to get rid of him in 2007.
The Samba star won two World Cups with his country and was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner before his latter playing days were blighted by injury.
However, when fit, there were not many better at finishing than him.
He scored 83 goals in 127 LaLiga matches for Madrid but it was his alleged off-field antics that was the trouble.
Capello appeared on Rio Ferdinand's 'FIVE' podcast and claimed that Ronaldo would bring a host of Madrid players to his villa for parties on a daily basis.
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He said: “With him, we have to sack him because he was no leader.
“He was a negative leader because every night he went to the villa with I think six or seven players... party, party, party, party.
“Sometimes it's one leader against the manager, you have to be really careful.”
And when Manchester United legend Ferdinand had asked him if he had ever experienced that internal division in his squads, Capello instantly replied: “Yes, Ronaldo Fenomeno.”
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Capello, who won LaLiga in both seasons he was at Madrid, has also spoken about Ronaldo’s exit previously.
During a university speech last year, he said: “In February 2007 I decided to get rid of Ronaldo Nazario.
“He was someone who liked to party and encouraged the group to go out with him.
“One day Ruud Van Nistelrooy came and told me: ‘Sir, it smells like alcohol here in the locker room’ and it was true.
“Ronaldo weighed 94 kg that year. In Korea, at the 2002 World Cup, he weighed 82. I told him to lose weight… he reached 92.5kg.”
Ronaldo eventually went to AC Milan for a bargain fee of £4.95m - even though they ignored Capello’s advice.
He also revealed last year that ex-Milan president Silvio Berlusconi had phoned him for a character reference on the hotshot.
Capello said: “Berlusconi called me one day to ask my advice on a hypothetical purchase of Ronaldo.
“I advised him against doing so, telling him that he [Ronaldo] was a party animal, and that he only thought about being surrounded by women. He [Berlusconi] told me: ‘Okay, thank you Fabio.’”
Ronaldo is now worth a reported £128m after becoming a successful entrepreneur since hanging up his boots and he still gets his footy fix as he owns Spanish side Real Valladolid.
