Ronaldinho Headed for AC Milan Exit?

Reports have emerged this week that Ronaldinho will be leaving AC Milan to rejoin Brazilian club Gremio during the upcoming January transfer window.  Speaking to RBS TV, Gremio club president Paulo Odone was quoted as saying, “On the part of Gremio and Ronaldinho everything is already set.”

If these reports prove true it will end months of speculation about the former World Player of the Year’s future.  Having fallen down the pecking order at Milan following the arrivals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho, Ronaldinho has rarely been seen in the starting lineup for the Rossoneri this term.

When he has been introduced as a sub his form has been patchy although he did display a flash of his old brilliance against AS Roma last week with a spectacular bicycle kick that sailed just over the crossbar. 

But with Milan having recently secured the services of Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano it seems as if Dinho is destined to be pushed even further into the background if he were to remain at the San Siro.

The Brazilian’s tenure with the Italian giants has not been an easy one with the days of wine and roses he enjoyed at Barcelona seemingly having given way to nights of beer and burgers. 

There are few on the world football stage who can say they are the same player now that they were five years ago but Ronaldinho’s decline is perhaps more notable because of the dizzying height from which he has fallen. 

Like George Best in the ’70s, the once inimitable trequartista’s love of the night life has rendered him prematurely average when he could have given us a few more years of greatness.

If he is truly on his way back to Gremio, which was the first professional club he played for, then this will also put to bed the lingering rumors about him joining the Los Angeles Galaxy.  That move, while intriguing on the surface seems much more dubious upon closer examination. 

For a known party animal like Ronaldinho the temptations of the Hollywood lifestyle could hold much more allure than they do for the married, upstanding and fitness-minded David Beckham. 

For the Galaxy to lavish the cash to bring a player with a tenuous grip on his form to a city where celebrity inebriation is practically encouraged seems like a potential recipe for disaster.

Having been recently recalled to the Brazilian national side for the first time since 2009 a homeward move might be just the thing to give Ronaldinho the stability he seems to lack. 

One needn’t look back too far to recall another troubled Brazilian star who departed AC Milan and eventually rehabilitated himself into something of a comeback playing on his native soil.

That player was Ronaldo who since joining the Brazilian side Corinthians has helped lift them to a Brazilian Cup and a spot in the Copa Libertadores. 

It’s just possible that joining Gremio could allow Ronaldinho to rediscover his love of the game and end his career with a similar touch of class.