Ronaldinho is becoming a major problem (3)

Not only within the club less and less people are supporting Ronaldinho. Since his performances on the pitch cannot compensate anymore for his lack of training intensity and his supposedly very active party life, the majority of the fans and the press has apparently also given up on the Brazilian. Josep María Casanovas, the founder of Catalan sports paper Sport, hit hard at the player in his column last weekend, and concluded: "To recover the best version of Ronaldinho seems an impossible task."

With a lot of people in and around the club wishing for the player to leave in the summer, Ronaldinho seems on the contrary more than ever decided to stay in Barcelona until his contract expires in 2010. Madrid tabloid As claimed that the player has already let some friends know nothing will make him change his mind. Ronaldinho would be annoyed by the fact that Barcelona president Joan Laporta in the end didn't renew his contract until 2014, like had been discussed a few years ago.

In an interview with the German edition of the monthly magazine Vanity Fair, Ronaldinho repeated once again he doesn't have plans to leave. Asked about the the rumours linking him with clubs like AC Milan or Chelsea, the Brazilian said: "With Barça I have a wonderful future. The guys here are my family. I'm still as happy here as I was the first day. I would like to stay and will do everything that I can to regain my best form."

Meanwhile, last Friday Ronaldinho celebrated his 28th birthday. An age at which most players reach their top...


(this is the third and last part of this contribution, the first part and the second part were published yesterday)

(read more on the Ronaldinho transfer story here)