Blog: Dinho’s Devils
Rivaldo and Ronaldo failed before him, but James Horncastle believes Ronaldinho and Milan are made for each other – albeit off the pitchLook back at the last 15 years of this wonderful sport and ask yourself a question. Which players from the `90s and the early `00s will you still talk about over the next decade and beyond? Zinedine Zidane’s name is probably the first that springs to mind, but I bet more than a few of you mention one of the three Rs – Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho – in the same breath as the magical Frenchman.
Each of the three Brazilians made their names at Barcelona, enthralling Spain, before receiving a call from Milan. The allure of playing for the Rossoneri was such that Rivaldo and Ronaldo broke their contracts at Barca and Real Madrid respectively in 2002 and 2007 to join the Italian giants. Both were aged 30 and hardly over the hill. Both averaged a goal every other game in their final seasons in Spain. Both then signed a pact with the Diavolo in the literal and Faustian sense.
A year after penning for Milan their careers were in tatters. Rivaldo all but forgotten in Greece. Ronaldo injured and disgraced in Brazil. Ronaldinho has yet to follow his compatriots to Milanello. The Diavolo, however, have been trying to tempt him to San Siro for nearly two years now and a deal is said to be close.
So should he let superstition get in the way of a move to Milan? Err no. Footballers have, after all, called an end to negotiations for stranger reasons. Tottenham left-back Lee Young-Pyo, a devout Christian, famously turned down a move to Roma because the city was not religious enough. Ronaldinho by contrast, is a man very much in need of faith after a trying year in Catalonia.
Milan will give him that. But it’ll come at great cost. Not so much in terms of money. He’ll take the Rossoneri out of the red and into the black financially thanks to his value as a commercial asset. The problem lies in finding a place for Ronaldinho in the dressing room. He was disruptive at Barcelona, dividing the team in two. He trained how and when he wanted to. Moreover, his arrival will rule out the signature of an out and out centre-forward, a burly partner young Alexandre Pato is crying out for.
That said it’s little wonder why Milan are in for Gaucho. They need each other. Both can offer the other redemption. If the Rossoneri make Ronaldinho smile again, he might, just might, return the favour and give those disaffected Milanisti something to grin about and football fans everywhere a reason to believe he still deserves his place in the pantheon of all-time great players.