Ronaldinho, the Gift That Keeps On Giving.

By: Mauro | July 18th, 2008

Now while covering this story might seem a little out of my patch, let me set your minds at ease by telling you that it affected a team that will be participating in the Copa Sudamericana that I will also be starting to cover when it begins at the end of this month.

With Ronaldinho’s transfer to AC Milan becoming a reality and more importantly, finally ending the rumors, there are more than just the parties represented that are happy about the move and the transfer fee. And you’ll never guess who.

Firstly, Gremio is pretty damned happy. Not just because they managed to transfer him away to PSG all those years ago, for which they pocketed $10.5 million, but because thanks to a solidarity system put in place through an agreement between the clubs in question and supported by FIFA, those teams who had a part in a players formation (read: the period between 12 – 23 years old) as a professional are entitled to a small percentage of his future transfers. Which is why 1 million euros are due to Gremio as a result of Ronaldinho’s transfer to AC Milan making them very happy.

Secondly, PSG is also pretty damned happy. It turns out that Ronaldinho was only 21 when he was initially transferred to PSG and therefore considered one of the clubs that contributed to his formation as a player and also entitled it’s 5% of the transfer which would also make them happy.

What I couldn’t find was the exact rules to this “agreement” between the clubs about the percentage of transfer fees or which players this agreement was applied to. What I can tell you is that when Barcelona paid for his transfer from PSG, Gremio was able to pocket another $3 million.

Now we know why Barsa rejected AC Milan’s first offer of 18 million euros. They knew thy would have had to share the fee with a few other interested parties.