Serie A: Ronaldinho’s agent says he will stay at A.C Milan
There has been a lot of speculation regarding Ronaldinho’s future at A.C Milan. The former two-time European player of the year has been criticized by many over the past 4 years for losing interest in football and focusing on off-the-field activities such as parties and fashion events.
Ronaldinho is still regarded by many as one of the finest footballers on the planet despite his disappointing form for both club and country. Along with his despairing form, Ronaldinho has also lost fitness. Once a magazine cover candidate, Ronaldinho has developed stomach lumps if recently taken photos are taken into consideration.
Ronaldinho’s finest years came with the Catalan club Barcelona. He was signed by Barcelona from Paris Saint Germain in the summer of 2003 after Joan Laporta took over at the club as their newly elected Barcelona president.
Ronaldinho won two La Liga titles with Barcelona and also won the historic European cup with the team in 2006. He was crowned as FIFA’s Player of the Year for 2004 and 2005. He also finished third in the running for the award in 2006 because he lost out to the Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro and the French midfielder Zinedine Zidane.
Ronaldinho’s demise started after the Brazilian national team lost to France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup quarter finals. Ronaldinho was expected to do well at the 2006 FIFA World Cup but he failed to live up to the expectations. Ronaldinho’s 2006-2007 season at Barcelona was an unsatisfactory one as well, as he fell out with Barcelona’s manager Frank Rijkaard and his fellow team mate Samuel Eto. In the 2007-2008 season, Ronaldinho suffered from multiple injuries and failed to make an impact for Barcelona again.
After his substandard displays and fitness troubles during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons with Barcelona, Ronaldinho was sold to A.C Milan during the summer of 2008 for 14 million pounds. He signed a three year contract with the Milanese club and took the shirt number 80 because he was born in the year 1980.
Ronaldinho’s performances for Milan have been quite dire as he has continued his unprofessional lifestyle and has been unsuccessful in reproducing his true form which saw him become the best player in the world during the mid 2000s. Recently, Ronaldinho’s agent and brother Roberto de Assis told Gazzetta dello Sport that Ronaldinho will one day like to play for Flamengo F.C in his native country, Brazil. He added that Flamengo have not had any contact with Milan up till now. He also stated that this move was only Ronaldinho’s dream and right now, the player had no intention of leaving Milan.
He also confirmed that Milan have offered Ronaldinho a contract till 2013 and the player is scheduled to talk to the club about the contract in December. He also made it clear that Ronaldinho wanted to be committed to Milan for the coming season, he further added that if Ronaldinho’s contract is not finalized in December, the Brazilian footballer can move to L.A Galaxy in the MLS.
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