The details of a failed attempt by the owner of Chelsea to buy Ronaldinho have been reported in the British press. Journalists from The Times discovered that 2 years ago Roman Abramovich was ready to pay a ¸50-million transfer fee for the famous Brazilian player, currently working his magic for Barcelona. However, as the London paper disclosed, the Russian billionaire, when he arrived in Paris, found out that money can’t buy you everything.

Sandro Rossell, Barcelona’s ex-vice-president and head of Nike, told The Times in an interview that Abramovich came to Paris when France was playing a friendly against Brazil. ‘Abramovich went in person to the hotel where the Brazilian players were staying and then into their locker-room, carrying a Chelsea shirt with Ronaldhino’s name on it’, as Rossell writes in a new book. ‘Abramovich wanted to get a picture of him wearing the shirt, but Ronaldinho refused. At about the same time, Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon made an offer to Barcelona which we immediately turned down’. The amount of the offer is said to have been in the area of ¸50 million. (Newsru.com, 21.04.2006)