Former World Footballer of the Year Ronaldinho might be on his way to Basingstoke, at least according to the Conference side.
It seems that talks have been opened with the Brazilian superstar and they have a contract offer on the table, if he wants to take it up.
Simon Hood, the marketing director at the Conference South side, is quoted by the BBC as saying that "Discussions have been had, and there is an offer on the table, now it is up to Ronaldinho to decide whether he wants to take us up on it.".
He added that "He is on a free transfer and if he wants to get into English football, I cannot think of a better way to do that than by signing for Basingstoke Town". Not to insult the Conference side, but we are talking about the man named as the best footballer in the world in 2004 and again in 2005, who has played for Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and AC Milan, amongst others, so he may have thought of a few better ways to get into English football.
As a free agent, the Brazilian can sign with a club even though the transfer window has closed, but something tells us that it might not be Basingstoke. He had been close to signing with Brazilian side Palmeiras, although it is believed that the deal fell through because he was asking for a percentage of the gates on top of his $90,000 (€69,400) a month salary. If Basingstoke have that type of cash to throw around, we'd be surprised, but stranger things have happened, right? We're genuinely asking.
Via Sportsmole