Brazilian legend Pele was close to joining Inter in 1958 but felt not ready to leave Brazil.
The ex-Santos forward, one of the best players of all time, died on December 29, 2022, aged 82. His compatriot Ronaldo penned an emotional letter published by La Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday, revealing, among other things, that Inter came close to signing him in the late ’50s.
“He [Pele] told me of when he had played at San Siro with Santos and Angelo Moratti had bought him for Inter, but he didn’t want to leave Brazil,” said Ronaldo.
“Massimo, my President, called me to greet him and confirmed everything.”
There were reports that Santos didn’t want to sell Pele but it seems that it was the former Brazilian striker who didn’t want to leave his club.
Angelo Moratti, the father of Massimo, ran Inter from 1955 until 1968 while Massimo bought the club again in 1995 keeping a majority stake in the club until June 2016.
Pele never played for a European side but met Serie A clubs several times in his career as well as the Azzurri who he beat in the 1970 World Cup Final, scoring one goal in a 4-1 win for the Seleçao.
Pic credit: Milan