KEY POINTS:
ROME - AC Milan signed Brazil striker Ronaldo from Real Madrid today for 7.5 million euros ($14.21m).
The 30-year-old striker, three-times Fifa World Player of the Year, signed an 18-month contract until June 30, 2008, the Serie A club announced.
Milan are paying 7.5 million euros for the Brazilian up front and an extra 0.5 million euros if they qualify for the Champions League this season or next, the Italian club's vice-president Adriano Galliani told reporters outside the Bernabeu in Madrid.
Ronaldo, who signed the deal in Madrid, was due later in Milan, the city where he played for his new club's rivals Inter from 1997 to 2002.
Real coach Fabio Capello, talking to Italian regional TV station Tele Lombardia in Madrid, said: "I wish him the best of luck in doing what he used to do which is being a great player."
Ronaldo had been angling for a move ever since Capello criticised him as being overweight and said he was no longer in his plans.
He seemed to make reference to the deterioration of his relationship with the Italian coach, who arrived from Juventus at the start of the season, as he left the Bernabeu on his way to the airport.
"I would like to thank the fans who've supported me all the time and thank all the team mates that I've had here and all the coaches I've had - except one," he said.
"It's sad because I've been here four-and-a-half years, but now I've got another important challenge in my life and that is to succeed in Milan.
"It breaks your heart, but that's life. It is a shame.
"I never had any problems with the coach, but he didn't want me and as I'm a professional I wanted to carry on playing and so we looked for another solution."
The move ends more than two weeks of negotiations between the clubs for the Brazilian, whose contract with Real was due to expire at the end of next season.
Ronaldo, who inspired Brazil to World Cup victory in 2002 in Asia and holds the record for goals scored in World Cup tournaments with 15, scored 104 goals for Real since joining them in August 2002.
He was the club's leading scorer in each of his four previous seasons in Spain but had limited opportunities to shine following knee surgery after the World Cup last year with coach Fabio Capello preferring Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy up front.
- REUTERS
