Ronaldinho ‘happy to stay at Milan’
Despite rumours to the contrary, Ronaldinho will not be leaving AC Milan, his brother and agent Roberto De Assis has declared. The Serie A giants and the player’s representatives have continued to insist the player will still be plying his trade with the club amid persistent claims that the Brazilian will be playing with another team next season.
It was reported this week by The People that English Premier League (EPL) club West Ham were offered the chance to purchase the 30-year-old player for around £6 million (7.2 million Euros). The newspaper said Milan were keen to offload the playmaker from their wage bill as he earns £150,000 (180,156 Euros) per week. The report added that Ronaldinho would be willing to lower his wages to around £90,000 as Hammers owners David Sullivan and David Gold on the lookout for a big-name signing as they try to re-establish their club in the EPL.
'No problems'
De Assis moved to stamp out the claims as he told Calcionews24.com that: "There are no problems for Ronaldinho, he will stay at Milan. He is under contract and his adventure there has been great. And I don't think the club wants to sell him. There is a full will to remain on Ronaldinho's part.” The player’s contract expires in 2011, but there have been reports that he is to be offered a three-year extension.
According to reports, the attacker has also raised the interest of Inter Milan, LA Galaxy, Manchester City and Real Madrid, among others. However, such claims appear unsubstantiated, with Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claiming the Italians have no intentions of allowing the Brazilian maestro to leave. He said to the media that: “He is a Milan player, we will not give him up, and the hypothesis should not even be considered. He has never asked to be transferred. He will remain at Milan next season and I hope even longer. It's true Galaxy are interested in him. After David Beckham, they want another star but Galaxy will have to wait for many more years.”
The Milan general manager appeared to close the book on the matter as he said: “There is absolutely no possibility that Ronaldinho leaves. His brother/agent is a friend of mine who I courted for two years before Ronaldinho started with us. I will meet him in the upcoming months especially to extend Ronaldinho's contract, certainly not to discuss his departure.”
Work permit problem
The midfielder started out his career with Germio in his home country, rising through the youth ranks to make his senior debut during the 1998 Copa Libertadores. EPL club Arsenal were interested in singing the player in 2001, but could not obtain work permit as was a player from outside the European Union who had not played enough international matches. He had also been set to play on loan with Scottish Premier League (SPL) club St Mirren before that prospect fell through as well. He completed a 5.1 million Euro transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001.
Ronaldinho played 55 games for the French Ligue 1 club, and scored 17 goals. However, he found life with PSG frustrating as the club failed to qualify for European competitions. He secured a transfer to La Liga giants Barcelona in 2003 for 32.25 million Euros. He proved a huge success there, scoring 95 goals in 207 games on his way to two La Liga titles, a brace of Supercopa de Espana victories and a UEFA champions League triumph. The Brazilian superstar has lifted the FIFA World Cup and Confederations Cup while playing for his country and has also received several individual awards, including twice being named FIFA’s World Player of the Year.
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