RONALDO ENDED months of speculation over his future by signing a five-year contract with Italian club Inter Milan yesterday.

"Today we signed a contract with Ronaldo. He will present himself to the club on July 1st for a medical and then he will go on holiday," his agent, Alexandre Martins said. The financial details of the deal will be announced by the club.

Ronaldo, with the Brazilian team at the Copa America in Santa Cruz in Bolivia, said: "I am very happy. This is a problem that has been affecting the national team and now it is out of the way."

The deal was announced shortly after Ronaldo's lawyer in Spain said he had paid the four billion pesetas (approximately £17.7 million) necessary to release the player from his contract with Barcelona.

A UEFA circular decreed that only Spanish clubs would be allowed to sign him without negotiating with Barcelona, but Martins said: "This is a matter our lawyers are dealing with."