I gotta ask. I'm still new to La Liga. What the HELL was Barca thinking by getting rid of 2 of the best footballers on the planet??? Gimme your thoughts, please.
catfish, Ronaldo moved from Barça to Internazionale Milano back in 1997, after a magnificent 96/97 season, he signed for madrid just weeks after Japorea finished on 2002, as for Figo, he moved to madrid in 2000 when he signed a contract with the chairman (then candidate) in a gamble he didnt thought he could lost, in that document he agreed to moved to rm if Perez won the elections (which he obviously did) Figo would have won US$ 1 million if Perez wasnt elected.
To add to the Figo story... Real Madrid under Lorenzo Sanz's leadership(the president before Perez) won two European Cups in three years and their first in 40 years. So in 2000, no one thought that Lorenzo Sanz could lose the presidential election based on his track record. Florentino Perez needed something to boost his chance. So he approached Figo and asked him to sign a contract with him personally. Under the contract, Figo would join Real Madrid only if Perez wins the election.... and Figo can keep US$ 1 million signing bonus(unsure what the fees was called) if he does not win. Since no one expected Perez to win, Figo and his agent thought the US$ 1 million dollar was free money. So why not? They signed the contract..... The news of the Figo contract leaked out.... the tide swinged to Perez's side and he won the election..... so Figo headed to Real Madrid. Figo's contract with Barcelona also had a clause if a certain transfer fees was matched, Barcelona must release him. And since Figo had signed a contract with Perez and Real Madrid agreed on the transfer fees under the release clasue, no one can stop Figo to play for Real Madrid.