In a detailed interview with FourFourTwo, Brazilian footballing superstar Ronaldinho revealed that he held discussions with Blackburn Rovers about potentially joining the club. There were strong rumours at the time in 2011 that Rovers made a move for the then AC Milan star.
In January 2011, the 97-cap Brazilian international elected to move on from Italian giants AC Milan, who were then managed by Clarence Seedorf. It was reported in several media outlets, including the BBC, that the Ewood Park club had made a bid to prize the playmaker from the San Siro club and offered a package worth £20million over three seasons. In the wide-ranging interview with the man himself, it appears that the bid was indeed a reality,
“About Blackburn: we talked to them, but I wanted to come back home to Brazil.”
It was also revealed that he was close to joining Manchester United in 2003, which was the year he decided to leave PSG before eventually moving on to Barcelona and enjoying the success and limelight that he enjoyed.
In 2011, Blackburn owners Venky’s did reveal that they truly believed they had a realistic project to offer Ronaldinho, who held ambitious to play in the Premier League, which was the division Rovers were in at the time,
“He is keen to play in the EPL (English Premier League) and I think that goes in our favour.”
There were also rumours that Blackburn looked into the possibility of signing David Beckham on a loan from Major League Soccer outfit LA Galaxy. Unsurprisingly this move also failed to ever significantly materialise.
Nevertheless, us football fans can’t help but think about the thought of Ronaldinho running out at Ewood Park in a Blackburn Rovers shirt. Steve Kean was the head coach at the time, and whilst he did manage to lure the likes of Benjani into the club in that season, Ronaldinho and Beckham proved to be just a few steps too far.
