Former Barcelona vice-president Joan Gaspart has revealed how he dressed up in a waiter's outfit to bypass security guards and eventually sign Brazil legend Ronaldo back in 1996.





At the time, Ronaldo was just 20-years-old having recently spent two prolific seasons at Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

Barcelona splashed the cash to land the Brazilian striker, paying a then world-record $19.5m fee.





And it was undoubtedly money well spent, as Ronaldo went on to score a quite sublime tally of 47 goals in 49 appearances for Barca.





However, before singing for the Catalan-club PSV realised they didn't want to sell, prompting Joan Gaspart's quick-thinking to help push the deal across the line.





“I even had to disguise myself to seal his signature," Gaspart told ​Goal.​





“It didn’t take long to reach agreement with PSV,





"The fee back then was 1,500,000,000 pesetas - around €15 million in today’s money.

“But the agreement had a little problem,





“We needed to get the player’s agreement and we needed it before July 15, because that was when the pact with PSV was set to expire.”





PSV's representatives were in Miami at the time, forcing Gaspart to fly to the US to try and gain Ronaldo's signature.





“However, PSV realised they didn’t want to lose the player and they called the CBF in order to stop Ronaldo signing for Barca." Gaspart continued. “There were two security guards that didn’t want me to go through and see Ronaldo or any other player,

Happy 40th birthday, El Fenomeno! The real Ronaldo is the greatest No.9 in history https://t.co/eaMYi7Dwgu pic.twitter.com/Y9PLfH0g1H — Goal (@goal) September 22, 2016

“I met a Spanish waiter in the hotel and he leant me his work clothes, gave me a tray and a Coca Cola,





“I put on the disguise, said hello to the security guards and told them a guest and asked for a soft drink. This time they let me past.





“I knocked on Ronaldo’s door and he himself opened it.





“He signed the contract right there, on the bed.”





The world-record deal was announced the following day and Ronaldo went on to enjoy one of the most prolific seasons of his career before making the move to join Inter Milan in 1997.



