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Ronaldinho spurns City, seals $33 million switch to Milan

Ronaldinho_4_ap

(Good morning all. Apologies for not touching on the Ronaldinho transfer, which went down yesterday afternoon, but I was busy with the Claudio Reyna retirement. SBI correspondent Carl Setterlund gives us a thorough breakdown of the Brazilian star’s move.)

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Finally, a resolution for at least one of the many big names on the market this summer.

Despite an ambitious effort from Manchester City, Ronaldinho is headed to his preferred choice, AC Milan, for a fee of at least €21 million, with the price elevating to as much as €25 million based on performance. For those of you dealing in US dollars, that translates to a cool $33.4 million heading into Barcelona’s pockets, with the maximum set at $39.8 million.

Although Thaksin Shinawatra and company are believed to have offered Barca €32 million ($51 million), word had it that the 28-year-old samba king favored a switch to one of the traditional European powers. Both clubs will partake in the UEFA Cup this season, but the difference between the two is that Milan are disappointed to have missed out on the UEFA Champions League while Man City are presumably thrilled to be playing European soccer next season. It also couldn’t have hurt Milan’s case that he would be headed to a talent-laden squad with the Rossoneri.

It’s hard to know where to begin when breaking down this story. Perhaps what’s most exciting is the idea of watching fantasy turn into reality as two superstar Brazilian midfielders (Ronaldinho and Kaká) and one fast-rising countryman up front (Alexandre Pato) headline the Milan attack. It will also be interesting to see if Carlo Ancelotti can balance what’s turning out to be a stacked midfield with Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and newcomer Mathieu Flamini all in the mix to start alongside his Brazilian tandem.

Just this offseason the Rossoneri have already added Gianluca Zambrotta and Marco Borrielo to the aforementioned Ronaldinho and Flamini. No doubt Silvio Berlusconi is looking to make up for a poor fifth-place showing in Serie A last season with big signings to bolster both offense and defense. You’ve certainly got to wonder how Milan made the decision between Ronaldinho and Emmanuel Adebayor, whom they were also said to be following, as this should be the last major piece to be added this offseason in their big makeover.

Despite a 2007-08 campaign plagued by injuries and questions of his fitness, Ronaldinho has still amassed quite a résumé to justify his reputation as one of the greats. After playing a part in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup victory, he moved to Barcelona and scored a whopping 83 goals over his first four seasons at the Camp Nou. And then you have to note that that probably doesn’t do justice to his impact on the field as Ronaldinho set up countless other goals and served as the offensive catalyst. Along the way, he won FIFA World Player of the Year twice, in 2004 and 2005, while also winning the Ballon d’Or in 2005. Then, in 2006, Ronaldinho helped Barcelona capture both the UEFA Champions League and La Liga trophies. When you look at his collective legacy I don’t think you can completely count out a guy on the right side of 30 from regaining his form as one of the world’s two or three best players. Am I right or is that just the Joga Bonito archive affecting my judgment?

An interesting side story to keep tabs on will be whether or not Ronaldinho continues to push in his quest to represent Brazil in the upcoming Olympics. Likewise, will AC Milan take a firm stance on protecting their new big-money signing?

Will Ronaldinho be a natural fit amongst AC Milan’s new embarrassment of riches or is this a mess in the making? How hard will the creative genius work to shed his image (and pounds)? As sort of a neutral spectator I know I’m looking forward to a revived and rejuvenated Ronaldinho if for nothing else than to see one of the true magicians at the top of his game again. What do you guys think of the signing?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’m a Milan fan, but isn’t it sad that only a few teams are even capable of getting the top players in Europe? As sad as our salary cap might be in MLS, at least we all know that the possibility exists that every team could win the championship. Man City might never win their League ever again.

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  2. City are such a massive club and are attracting top talent… HA, the Red half are having a laugh (like that rhyme?). Always living in our shadow…

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  3. If I were Milan, I’d worry about Dinho’s habits rubbing off on Kaka and Pato. AFAIK, Kaka and Pato don’t have Dinho’s reputation as an out-of-shape partier who doesn’t take soccer seriously any more. But if they hang around with Dinho too much (like, um, Deco)…

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  4. Yo Homey,

    “. . . Have you seen the pics of his gut? Did you notice he wears a really baggy shirt these days?”

    Saw the Pic. Looks like It has been “shopped”. And he has worn a “baggy” shirt for two or three years now.

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  5. Jesus man, Ronaldinho Kaka Gattuso Pirlo Seedorf and Flamini… theyre gonna have to go with a 5 man midfield .

    – Flamini –

    – Pirlo Seedorf –

    – Kaka Ronaldinho –

    siiiiick

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  6. really interesting signing. if i were ac milan, i probably would have passed on dinho and spent money trying to pick up a quality winger. with dinho, kaka, and pato in attack would work great if you didnt already have pirlo and seedorf. i think milan will struggle for wing play and therefore will end up pushing up their outside backs, which will leave them exposed defensively because none of dinho,kaka, pato, pirlo will play defense. or, their backs will stay back and their attack won’t be as successful as it should be given the talent. i think their signings of flamini, Borrielo, zambrotta were brilliant, interested to see how dinho works out there. no doubt he’ll be great, but worth all that money that could have been spent on a winger/forward? yet to be seen.

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  7. Mayer, Milan already gave the green light for Ronnie to go to Beijing.

    I’m thinking it’s to heave him play his way into shape.

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  8. Wow- how are they going to fit those guys on the field? I think either Ronny is going to have to play as a second striker, or Milan is going to be forced to play a lone striker up top with a 5 man midfield. The problem with the 5 man midfield is that at least 3 of them will be playing practically NO defense. I think that will be the story of Milan’s season- can you win when you effectively have 4 players on the pitch who won’t track back into the defensive third?

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  9. Great defense, good three pronged attack…old and ineffective midfield….again. Pirlo was simply atrocious last year and in the Euros. Seedorf is wonderful but getting old and was never speedy. Gattuso…he’s Gattuso. Great as a team guy, but slow. Ambrosini…he was a great roleplayer but seems to have lost form. Terrible last season and he looked lost in the Euros.

    But they can probably get 3rd or 4th.

    Regards

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  10. ———pato—

    —-dino——kaka–

    -seadorf-pirlo–gattuso

    ———ambrosini—

    zambrotta-nesta-kaladze-oddo–

    pretty impressive

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  11. They really needed a striker and are already loaded in the midfield. While I do believe the possibility Ronaldinho regains form greater than a lot of people think, especially on Milan, that money would have been better spent on a striker. Flamini was a steal as a free transfer, and between him, kaka, gatusso, and pirlo they already have a fine midfield.

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  12. The biggest winner here is the Brazilian national team, which will benefit enourmously from having three featured prongs of their attack playing together regularly. Ronny has lots of incentive now. He has to impress to work his way onto the 2010 squad, including the qualifiers and Confederations Cup, which is just next summer. He also has to play well if Milan is going to run deep into the UEFA Cup and seal a return to the Champions League. And as he’s spurned more money (including whatever cut he would have gotten from Nike kit sales now that he’ll be wearing Addidas), his intent seems in the right place. Watch out.

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  13. I’m a Barca fan too — and they could’ve had twice that transfer fee just last year. I’m betting that he regains his form and makes eliminates Barca in the CL. When the writing was on the wall, he just gave up and gave in, and decided to move on.

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  14. As a Barca fan, I wish he would have cleaned up his act a little and stayed with the club. Assuming he regains his form, he is a huge loss for Barca.

    In fact, Barca in general got absolutely gutted over the transfer period – Deco, Zambrotta, Eto’o (probable), Ronaldinho, and I’ve even heard rumours of Messi possibly moving.

    I am pessimistic about Dinho regaining his form, although I hope he does. Milan isn’t exactly where you go to recover from a lifestyle of partying.

    – Scott

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  15. It will help him greatly to play with Kaka and Pato. It will get him excited again. Watch out for Ronny…he’s going to dominate again.

    Now that he’s signed it will start the transfer dominoes falling. Next up, Hleb’s transfer to Barca.

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