Ronaldinho - fact or fiction?

Sven Goran Eriksson has admitted that Ronaldinho would be
welcomed at Manchester City with open arms.
City are believed to be keen on
bringing the unsettled Barcelona forward to the Premier League at the end of
season and have joined a host of other clubs in the race for the Brazilian's
signature.

>>Sky Sports.

The story was first reported in The Daily Mail on Saturday, but it was hardly a convincing piece given the piece ended by saying it was extremely unlikely any deal would go through given his wage demands.

The press have been all over the stroy today though, with Sven (unsurprisingly) giving a thumbs-up for the move.

How much credence is in the story is not really known of course, but the fact that Ronaldinho's brother/agent was a VIP guest at the club at the weekend is encouraging at the very least and Thaksin has spoken previously of a 'marquee' signing to fill the stadium and really put us on the map.

I still have my doubts regarding the true nature of this story, and it does strike as a nice piece of PR for Thaksin to show us being linked with a player of this stature - particularly given recent grumblings about our slide down the table, whilst Ronaldinho and his team would not be too displeased for stories linking ourselves and very wealthy owner ready to offer bucketloads of cash for his signature.

It is the latter which I still think as the most likely explanation, given there has been 'previous' regarding this from Ronaldinho (notably when he flirted with United to hike up an offer from Barcelona) and it appears to be a move to sting the Milan clubs into action, and I still believe AC Milan as the likely destination in the summer.

If he did sign for us then what a coup it would be though.

Reports of his demise are clearly premature, as although he has struggled for form and fitness this season he is undoubtedly amongst the top talents in the world still - although his star is fading slightly with a host of younger pups (Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo, Pato) nipping at his heels.

I remember seeing Ronaldinho play for Barcelona against us in a pre-season friendly which marked the opening of the new stadium and he was streets ahead of any other player on the pitch.

I would be staggered if I saw him play at that stadium again, this time in a City shirt, but you never know and if we did pull the signing off, then what a buzz we would have going into next season.