Blues want Ronaldinho

BARCELONA – Chelsea are ready to offer Barcelona 60 million euros (88 million US dollars) for its Brazilian star midfielder Ronaldinho, Catalan sports daily Sport reported yesterday.

The newspaper, which has close ties to Barcelona, said Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is “convinced that the signing of Ronaldinho would be magnificent from all points of view” and has made it a top priority for the next season. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has discussed the English side’s interest in the player with Barcelona officials on the sidelines of meetings of the G14, which represents 18 of Europe’s top clubs, it said.”The decision has already been taken,” the paper said, adding Chelsea will only intend to sign Ronaldinho next season.Chelsea’s bid for the playmaker will include German international Michael Ballack, who came close to signing with Barcelona while he was at Bayern Munich, the newspaper said.Last month Barcelona vice-president Ferran Soriano said Ronaldinho, who has also been linked to a move to Italian side AC Milan, was not for sale.Nampa-AFPChelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has discussed the English side’s interest in the player with Barcelona officials on the sidelines of meetings of the G14, which represents 18 of Europe’s top clubs, it said.”The decision has already been taken,” the paper said, adding Chelsea will only intend to sign Ronaldinho next season.Chelsea’s bid for the playmaker will include German international Michael Ballack, who came close to signing with Barcelona while he was at Bayern Munich, the newspaper said.Last month Barcelona vice-president Ferran Soriano said Ronaldinho, who has also been linked to a move to Italian side AC Milan, was not for sale.Nampa-AFP