I played with Ronaldo and bought a club that was named after me in my homeland for £19,500 – I even signed myself

MOHAMED KALLON spent the 2001-02 season outscoring team-mate Ronaldo for Inter Milan.

That summer, one of them scored both goals in the World Cup final.

The other bought a football club named after him in his homeland.

A 22-year-old Kallon paid a cut-price £19,500 to purchase FC Kallon – a team in Sierra Leone rebranded from Sierra Fisheries to its new name in 2000.

The striker had made a name for himself and was a national icon, scoring the winner on his senior Sierra Leone international debut in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier aged just 15.

And he had already represented ten club sides by 2001 spanning five countries.

But a change in non-EU player quota laws during the 2000-01 season enabled Kallon to return to the San Siro with Inter.

The star-studded squad also had the luxury of picking from Christian Vieri, Ronaldo, Alvaro Recoba, Adriano, Hakan Sukur and Nicola Ventola up front – with Javier Zanetti, Clarence Seedorf and Laurent Blanc further back.

However, injuries to Ronaldo and Recoba saw Kallon make 39 appearances across all competitions.

And the star, who bizarrely wore the No3 shirt traditionally reserved for the left-back, notched up 15 goals – second only behind Vieri and more than double Ronaldo’s tally of seven.

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Inter finished the Serie A season in third, just two points behind champions Juventus, and reached the Uefa Cup semis.

But it was his decision to buy FC Kallon that raised eyebrows – especially when he announced he had sacked three officials “because they are incompetent” a month BEFORE taking over.

On the pitch, Kallon the player struggled for form and fitness in 2002-03 despite Ronaldo’s exit to Real Madrid. Then the forward was banned alongside Colonel Gaddafi’s son Al-Saadi for a positive steroids drug test.

He left Inter with 19 goals in 61 appearances and three years at Monaco followed before the Sierra Leone captain decided to sign himself for his very own FC Kallon in 2009.

Kallon said at the time: “My homecoming is a temporary one and it’s just for three months but it’ll be fruitful for the Sierra Leone premier league.

“I know my presence in the league will see many Sierra Leoneans get attracted to the Sierra Leone league and this will help the local game grow.

“I’ll also use the league to keep myself fit for the next European transfer window in January.

“Surely I have many offers on the table but I just need to be fully fit to accept one of them.”

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It was meant to be a short-term solution but brief spells in China and India followed before Kallon returned to Kallon where he finished his career in 2014 amid a backdrop of a bitter feud with his nation’s FA.

FC Kallon won their fourth Sierra Leone National Premier League title in 2006 – their first under Kallon’s ownership and name.

They have also lifted the country’s FA Cup and reached the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup during his tenure.

The league was put on hold from 2014 to 2018 due to the Ebola epidemic but is now back underway.

Kallon, now 43, remains heavily involved as the owner and there are suggestions he has even taken over as manager of the side who play at the 45,000-seater National Stadium.

And unlike his former striker partner Ronaldo, Kallon is showing no signs of wanting to sell up.

Ronaldo bought Real Valladolid in 2018 but two relegations in three seasons have led to frustrations from fans.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk