Ronaldo starts on a new career as a porn magnate after 'bidding for Playboy franchise in Brazil'

Ronaldo is reportedly hoping to buy the Brazilian Playboy franchise

He is close to making a bid for the men's soft porn magazine

The Brazilian branch is the third largest version of Playboy in the world

Ronaldo also owns gyms, a sports health clinic apartments and a nightclub

Brazilian football icon Ronaldo is embarking on a new career - as a porn magnate, it was reported today.

The World Cup winner is reportedly hoping to buy the huge Playboy franchise in Brazil.

The former Real Madrid striker-turned-businessman, 35, is believed to be close to making a bid for the popular men's magazine.

Business venture: Ronaldo is keen to buy the Brazilian Playboy franchise

His marketing firm 9INE already manages images rights to some of Brazil's biggest sports stars, including football prodigy and new Barcelona signing Neymar.

Sources close to the star, real name Ronaldo Nazario de Lima, told Brazil's Extra newspaper he sees the soft-porn publication - Brazil's tenth best-selling magazine - as a lucrative business opportunity.

Popular: The Brazilian branch of the franchise is the third largest in the world

Playboy in Brazil has the third largest readership of the magazine in the world, reguarly selling over 250,000 copies a month - but sales have fallen in the last decade from sometimes over a million in the 1990s.

Friends of the footballer said Ronaldo - nicknamed The Phenomenon in his native country - believes his 'midas touch' will help rejuvenate the magazine.

Ronaldo retired from football in 2011 after a glittering career.

He scored a record 15 goals in World Cups and in 2002 won the World Cup for his country, scoring two goals in the final.

Since then his shrewd investments and endorsement deals have made him a billionaire, according to estimates.

He receives around £10 million a year from sponsors including Nike, Fiat and Duracell, while his company 9INE is set to make £15 million in 2014, according to a spokesman.

He also owns a chain of gyms, a sports health clinic and a six-storey building which houses a Rio de Janeiro university, as well as a nightclub in Rio's most affluent neighbourhood, Leblon.

And he has millions of pounds worth of real estate, including apartments in Rio, Sao Paulo, Paris and Madrid, and his own private island off the Rio de Janeiro coast.