Milan president confirms Ronaldinho interest

AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has confirmed today in an interview with Italian news agency ANSA that his club is trying to sign Barcelona playmaker and Brazilian international Ronaldinho (28): "I hope and think that we will be able to close the deal." Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport had claimed this morning that Berlusconi would have made clear to some friends that the transfer is almost sealed. The paper says that Milan would be wanting to pay 20 million euro° for Ronaldinho.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan would also be trying for months now, with the support of sponsor Nike, to convince Ronaldinho to join them. Inter manager Roberto Mancini repeated today at a press conference his interest in signing Ronaldinho: "Six months ago I said that I would sign him if it was possible. Now he might be for sale and he remains a great player. Even if he's going through a difficult time, he is a great player who can make the difference." The player's agent and brother, Roberto de Assís, nevertheless doesn't seem very keen on a deal with Inter.

In an interview with Catalan radio station Ona FM, Roberto de Assís didn't want to pronounce on his visits to Milan and London in the past days nor on the future of Ronaldinho: "He just got injured, so this is not the best time to talk about this." Asked if the fans would ever see Ronaldinho in the Barcelona shirt again, Roberto ironically replied: "Since he has a contract until 2010, there will be enough time for that."