Ronaldinho agrees terms with Milan

The brother and agent of Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28), Roberto de Assís, who was seen partying last night in the 'Tocqueville 13' night club in Milan, has declared to Italian sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport that he has found a deal with AC Milan: "In general, Ronaldinho and Milan have agreed." With the last details still to be defined, the paper claims that Ronaldinho, whose contract with Barcelona expires in 2010, will sign a contract for four seasons until June 2012, receiving 8 million euro net a year.

Milan vice president Adriano Galliani confirmed the agreement to Italian television channel Sky Italia: "We go step by step. We have a principal agreement with the player and now we will have to negotiate with Barcelona." Galliani announced that he will travel next week to Barcelona to try to close the deal. Roberto will travel to Barcelona as soon as possible to talk with Barcelona officials.

Italian sports paper La Gazzetta delo Sport claims that Barcelona is demanding a transfer fee of 30 million euro but that Milan offers a lower price and would even consider to use Article 17 of the FIFA transfers regulation, which allowes a player to leave after three years paying a defined transfer fee, which in Ronaldinho's case would be 16 million euro. Italian television channel Sportitalia claims that Barcelona would receive a transfer fee of 22 million euro.

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Inter president not giving up on Ronaldinho

Despite several reports and even pictures about the Thursday events (read more here), Roberto de Assís, brother and agent of Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28), yesterday denied in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE that he met with AC Milan officials earlier this week to negotiate about a transfer of his brother. Asked about the future of Ronaldinho in Barcelona, Roberto referred to the running contract but didn't exclude anything: "He has a contract until 2010, but I cannot confirm or deny anything. This is football, so everything can happen."

Catalan sports paper Sport nevertheless claims that, although Inter could have offered more money, Milan and Roberto have already come to a total agreement: Ronaldinho will sign a contract for four seasons and will earn 8 million euro net a year.

The only thing that is still needed to close the deal is that Barcelona agrees on the transfer price. With Milan offering 20 million euro and Barcelona asking 30 million euro, the paper believes the final fee will turn around 25 million euro. Barcelona would also ask a compensation for the income loss due to the fact that Ronaldinho won't be able to participate in the summer tours.

The latter would not be a problem for AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi who has promised the arrival of the Brazilian and can't come back on this anymore. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani stayed in permanent contact with Berlusconi during the Thursday meeting in the Giannino restaurant, owned by AC Milan defender and Georgian international Kakha Kaladze, in Milan (read more here).

The Milan president is aware that Ronaldinho is a world icon and that the transfer will have great consequences for Milan and his companies. Ronaldinho could make the Milan brand rise 50 per cent in growing markets like the Asian one. The involvement of Berlusconi in the upcoming Italian elections would have been decisive in last week's developments.

As was the renewed interest of Inter Milan. El Mundo Deportivo claims that Roberto promised Inter president Massimo Moratti to meet with him before he signes anything. Moratti confirmed this to the paper: "We know that Ronaldinho will only decide on his future after talks with Inter. Both Barcelona and the player have assured us thereof."

To Italian sports paper Il Corriere dello Sport, Moratti said a similar thing: "We are receiving clear signs of interest. The player and Barcelona will not move a muscle before hearing our proposal." El Mundo Deportivo suggests that Roberto and Moratti could meet shortly in Paris, where both Moratti and Ronaldinho have a house and where Roberto will spend the coming days.

Barcelona surely doesn't plan to interfere in the whole process. Barcelona president Joan Laporta has a great relationship with both Milan (through Milan vice president Galliani) and Inter (through the son of the Inter president). When Barcelona receives a reasonable transfer fee, Ronaldinho will be able to leave without a problem to the club of his wish.

Sevilla's Keita on Barcelona agenda

French sports paper L'Equipe claims that Barcelona is interested in signing Sevilla defensive midfielder Seydou Keita (28) in the coming transfer window. Other European top clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid and Juventus would also keep an eye on the Malian international, who came to Sevilla from Lens last summer for 4 million euro°, a transfer price that at least would already have been tripled by now.

(read more on the Keita transfer story here)

Guardiola sets his conditions

Catalan sports paper Sport reports that Barcelona B manager Josep Guardiola (37) is at this moment not thinking about taking over as Barcelona manager. The former Barcelona player is certainly not willing to take over before the end of this season and is at this moment convinced that current Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard (45) will continue next season.

Guardiola is totally focusing on playing the promotional play offs with Barcelona B and thinks he will still to be the Barcelona B manager next season, with the team by then hopefully having promoted to the Spanish third division. The paper claims Guardiola would not be interested in offers coming from other teams (read more here).

When the Barcelona board nevertheless would ask him to replace Frank Rijkaard next season and pronounces its total confidence in the former Barcelona captain, he would change his current plans. When he would take over, Guardiola will demand the control over the sports matters, a decisive vote in the transfer policy and the backing of the board when he starts the clean-out of the squad.

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Ronaldinho used Manchester City

British tabloid The Sun claims that Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28) has revealed to team mates earlier this week that he would prefer to move to the English Premier League, giving Manchester City renewed hopes to sign the Brazilian this summer. The club would be ready to offer Ronaldinho a salary of 12,5 million euro° a year and an interesting image rights deal, something the club wants to compensate by huge commercial spin-offs.

British tabloid The Daily Mail claimed yesterday that Manchester City was already offered Ronaldinho back in January, when Manchester City president Thaksin Sinawatra was alerted to the player's availability. Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson doesn't believe the transfer is possible and would be privately hoping the interest of his president in the Brazilian fades away.

British newspaper The Guardian suggested that the Manchester City president has been naive in the whole case and that Roberto de Assís, brother and agent of Ronaldinho, has used Manchester City to alert other potential buyers and to push up the price. Manchester City manager Eriksson thinks that Chelsea was one of the real targets: "After last weekend's game I met Roberto and do you know where? He was outside the dressing room of Chelsea. What he was doing there I don't know."

Thaksin Shinawatra would nevertheless still believe that there's a good chance Ronaldinho will accept his club's offer, but Eriksson did not put him on his transfer wish list: "I have a crystal clear idea of who I want. I know that one target for the owner, and rightly so, is to fill the stadium for every match. One way to do that is to fight higher up the league. Another is to buy a big, big, big star. Ronaldinho was the number 1 player in the world two years ago and he is still a very good player. If you asked any manager in the world about him, you would get the same answer every time. But it's just unlikely he wants to swap Barcelona for us."

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