As the contract is readied, the ink not yet dry, Ronaldinho's move to AC Milan brings me to look at the hard truth about current politics and Camp Nou and say the exit strategy of the biggest assets at my club Barcelona have been thus far, foolish and at best ham-fisted.
Barcelona have had to settle for a fee of about €21 million (£16.7 million) for the Brazilian, rising by €4 million if various clauses are met. Barcelona said that the agreement in principle was reached thanks to the player "renouncing his right to 15% of the fee."
The initial fee represents a €6 million increase on Milan's opening offer but is almost £9 million less than Manchester City's bid and only a third of the €60 million the Rossoneri tabled last summer—a bid rejected as inadequate.
How Barcelona wish they could turn the clock back. Rarely has a club made such a mess of selling its greatest asset and they are currently dealing with Samuel Eto'o little better. So bad have their tactics been that City's approach actually stood a chance.
Though he was twice Fifa's world player of the year, Ronaldinho's only real suitor for a time was a club that has not won anything since 1976. That is the level at which Barça pitched him—and they would have been delighted to accept City's £25.5 million bid.
The 28-year-old was reluctant to have his future decided for him but feared he might have to go to City. He waited for another club to ride in and rescue him and Milan, at long last, have done so.
The Milan coach, Carlo Ancelotti, earlier revealed he hoped the 28-year-old would give his side a much-needed lift ahead of the new season. "The important thing is to have champions and Ronaldinho without a doubt is one of them," said Ancelotti.
So keen were Barcelona to offload him and so determined was he to join a big club, even if they had failed to qualify for the Champions League, that they have had to cut their losses and accept Milan's offer.
It was understandable that Barcelona were determined to be rid of Ronaldinho. Caught at the centre of a civil war with Eto'o, he became a focus of dressing-room conflict and was seen as a protégé of Sandro Rosell, the former vice-president who left the club after falling out with the president, Joan Laporta, and is now preparing his own bid for power.
When Eto'o launched his infamous attack on Ronaldinho in February 2007, he suggested that his team-mate attended "eight of every 50 training sessions." It was only a slight exaggeration: over the past two seasons the Brazilian attended fewer than half. "Ronaldinho is in the gym" became a running joke and there was no hiding his expanding girth.
But the problem was not that Barcelona wanted him out; it was that their desire became so public. It was Barcelona themselves who leaked stories of a night out 24 hours before a game and whose ham-fisted handling of the Brazilian twice saw him withdraw from the squad on the morning of a match.
Johan Cruyff spent the year attacking him in his newspaper column and it was a club official who publicly admitted that "injured" players—Ronaldinho, Deco, and Rafael Márquez—had been ditched, while board members revealed that they no longer saw the Brazilian as "recoverable."
Barcelona even revealed that he no longer sold as many shirts as he once did.
The new head coach, Pep Guardiola, then applied the coup de grâce, confirming an open secret: Barcelona no longer wanted Ronaldinho or indeed Eto'o.
Never mind the money, we want them out was the message. Their prices fell at a stroke, the number of suitors did too and Barcelona's purchasing power tumbled with them, complicating bids for Emmanuel Adebayor and Alexander Hleb.
Suddenly City stood alone, glimpsing an opportunity handed to them by a club who had turned an auction at Sotheby's into a clearance sale at Poundland. Yesterday Milan ended City's dream, but it, like Ronaldinho, was good while it lasted.
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Alby Jnr
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2 months ago
Fantastic read Alby and raised a different side to the norm when I have read about the transfer. Barcelona have really blowing all others out of the water in terms of player purchases and the quickness in their actions I have been very impressed.
Eto'o/Ronaldinho fight was quite amazing to witness quite sad for both if had gotten along could have wrote the book on World Club Football over the next number of years.
2 months ago
It is shameful how egos obstruct success in so many endeavors.
2 months ago
I think that was an important move for Barca to move forward. I don't think their rebuilding is anywhere close to complete. They still have a lot of work to do until they are ready to challenge for the title in La Liga.
from 2 months ago
I think were closer than many would believe and importantly I do not think Real Madrid are as strong as their winning the title last year would imply.
We have a lot of work to do like all teams, but I feel strongly we will be far superior than the last two years this coming season.
2 months ago
Simply stated, hindsight is 20/20...Everyone in business would love to maximize profit by dumping/selling at the height of value, just before the fall...Alas, this is the real world and making those judgements are never easy...In particular, it's never easy to make decisions like that when it involves a talent like Ronnie...He will be missed and he is a part of Barca history but so too was his play, a part of history...The last season and a half were a marked drop in his form and his antics had simply gotten too burdensome for a club trying to maintain a 'team' identity...Not the only culprit in this Greek tragedy as Eto'O is also being shown the door and I can't disagree with it either...This was never about the players not being fantastic talents, it was about chemistry and the chemistry had changed.
It would've been more appropriate to sell before but Barcelona cannot be criticized for holding out hope that they would see a return of their great talent in Ronaldinho...Unfortunately, it was not to be.
from 2 months ago
Article is not saying it is wrong to sell in fact far from it I am more than happy for us to move on and nor is it talking about the player Ronaldinho with regards to his form.
It tackles and questions the business practises of a team selling its best assets and not handling it in a way that befits such a situation, I am happy we can all move on.
No matter, the way in which we have conducted our business has backfired, one point of explanation is we are under the duress of a Barca politics and a president under fire.
Hindsight 20/20 this article is not coming with that in mind. This article is an articulation of our failings not of the last 48 hours but of the last six weeks and this current day.
2 months ago
i don't think and i hope we have not seen the last of ronnie's talents at full strength. a special player, i will never forget the goal he got against chelsea in the champions league a few seasons back, from the edge of the box with two players plus the keeper in front of him, he stood there for a moment and then seemed to say 'heres how you score guys' with a simply beautiful piece of ball manipulation. i definitely think that Barcelona as a club handled the whole situation very badly in regards to his form dip and subsequent recent lack of play, perhaps another coach could have gotten more out of him, no disrespect to rijkaard. his desire to go to the olympics makes it clear he still feels he has a lot to give the game and i think milan have made a steal here, i really do. it will become more evident when we see the old ronnie in action again soon.
from 2 months ago
I don't think he has written his final chapter and I expect great things from him in his late twenties and the move to Milan will prove to be a blessing for him.
Barca handled the business dealings badly - Ronaldinho handled things badly he has not been professional but how many greats are? it is boom and bust they can do things no other can so the need for professionalism is not as high at PSG he was but a joke for a long period of time a trickster with no punch at barca he delivered punch after punch - it became a mess at Barcelona and I am glad it is over but happy to have seen such greatness.
2 months ago
great article. i think barca should have sold ronaldinho when he used to be valued at 100 or 60 million by milan. it is a shame that they are going to sell eto'o. he is a very good striker. but it seems that guardiola wants to start from scratch and build a new winning team, just like rijkaard did before. but selling a player in his twenties and in his peak (eto'o) is something that i cant quite understand.
on the other hand, ronaldinho's sale was just normal because he wasnt training enough. i hope he makes it back to the top; the footballing world surely misses his creativity and tricks... to be published tomorrow, is an article of mine about ronaldinho, as the latest "have your say" in the series. for those interested to have their say, make sure to read the article to be published in less than 24 hours! ciao.
Zahi
from 2 months ago
Will do...
At your point on Eto'o is true... a man in the prime of his life and he has gone so far as to alienate himself from the new managers plans by his actions throughout his Barcelona career... it is a shame
2 months ago
Great article Alby, and I agree with you except on one thing. You replied on a comment that Real Madrid is not as strong last year, and I think that I have to disagree. Compare to the "galacticos" era, the team that won the league last season is in my opinion a team. Even though I will miss watching the likes of R. Carlos, Ronaldo, Becks, Figo, and Zidane play with the whites, I can honestly say that this team is better than the previous three years. I realize that having the best players in the world does not make up the best team in the world. An example of that is the spat between Roberto Carlos and Raul, which Raul stated that it was the fault of Carlos for allowing Bayern Munich to score a goal in seconds during a Champions league match. That game resulted in Bayern winning the game 1-0 and 3-3 on aggregate. Roberto Carlos later stated after he departed for Fenerbache that he was never friends with Raul, just teammates. Teams like Barca and Madrid who can afford to have these kinds of superstars are often targeted by the media to see if there are difficult situations amongst the players. I truly believed that with the type of players that the manager has brought in last year, that problem is slowly disappearing. I believe that is also happening in Barcelona this season, which is quite exciting because it will amped the rivalry between the two biggest clubs in Spain, if that is even possible.
Last season injuries and a number of new players adjusting to new environments were the major reasons Real didn't make it further in the Champions League last season, in my opinion. With a year under Shuster, the team has some familiarity and for the first time in a long time, the transfer market will be a lot quieter in terms of the amount of players Real will bring and cut this season. And I didn't forget about C. Ronaldo, which my excitement is slowly being replaced by annoyance and irritability with the extended drama that is going on this offseason. Then again, I should be used to it by now. It would be foolish for me to say that I am not excited to see him as a Real Madrid fan, but I also have strong feelings that the team could move on without him this year.
Lastly, I am really looking forward to the new season between the two clubs, because I really see some similarities to the directions that the clubs are heading. Real Madrid turned its direction last year, and Barca are doing it this year for the better. Ronaldinho is gone but Messi will make me cry in future matches as he matures even further than what he is capable now. It wont be long when the crowds of the Bernabeu stand up to applaud Messi as they did for Ronaldinho. Just because I am a Real Madrid fan, I still want to see them play against an equally determined and competent team and no other team in Spain or in the world that can give me the type of joy when Real Madrid and Barcelona meet at least twice a year. Good luck to Barcelona this year and we will see you at El Clásico. Thank you.
from 2 months ago
I like your last paragraph in particular, you raise good points, both clubs are in a transitional period and not yet found their feet.
I am saying in my comment that Real Madrid are not that strong. I wasn't comparing them to last year or the year before. I am stating that winning the league last year hides much of what is not right about Madrid.
Madrid are in a false sense of security, they have won a weakened La Liga with a weakened Barca over the past two years the first of which Barca got same points as Madrid, La Liga has not provided them with the stimulus and the challenge that would have brought even more out of this team that I firmly believe owes a great debt still to Capello.
Madrid want to conquer Europe and Spain, one problem is they concede far to many goals at the top level both domestically and in Europe. Knocked out in the first challenging round of Champions League conceding 14 goals in 8 games it is not good enough and I feel the same problems will exist next season and with a strong Barca I feel Madrid will be found out.
Thanks for the contact...
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