In 2007, Middlesbrough made a £10 million approach for Barcelona and Brazil star Ronaldinho in an attempt to accomplish what would have been one of the most incredible deals in football history.
As the town’s ‘Infant Hercules’ moniker suggests, Boro is a club with a long and proud history that has been outperforming its peers for many years. The club serves a modest industrial port town tucked away in the country’s northeast.
Some of the best football names in the world have played on Teesside in the past, but because of a number of Brazilian imports throughout the years, the Riverside Stadium has spent many an afternoon rocking to the Samba beat.
Ronaldinho, Emerson, Doriva, Fabio Rochemback, and Juninho?
Middlesbrough’s shocking £10 million bid for Ronaldinho was an attempt to extend the Premier League’s golden years.
Ronaldinho of Barcelona was one of the biggest football stars in the world by December 2007.
Before ceding the throne to an Argentinean player named Lionel Messi, the Brazilian offensive midfielder was the king of Camp Nou. A worthy successor to the Catalonian club’s crown!
Because of his extraordinary skill with a football, “Ronnie” was as popular at the box office as they come, making him one of the most recognizable people in the world.
The entire football community must have snorted with laughter when word leaked out in December 2007 that Middlesbrough had made a £10 million bid for him, but Boro chairman Steve Gibson wasn’t playing around.
Even though Chelsea and AC Milan were well-known admirers and the Teessiders were in the top flight’s relegation zone when word of their bid broke, Middlesbrough was the only team to make a firm offer to Barça for Ronaldinho at the time.
Transfermarkt’s statistics on Ronaldinho’s career at Barcelona
Looks
Objectives
Helps
207
94
69
During the 2005–06 season, Boro advanced to the FA Cup semi-final, the League Cup quarterfinal, and lost to Sevilla in the UEFA Cup (Europa League) final.
However, by the summer of 2007, several of their best players—including Franck Queudrue, Mark Viduka, Yakubu, Doriva, and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink—as well as manager Steve McClaren, who was replaced in 2006 by former Middlesbrough captain Gareth Southgate, would have left the team.
However, Gibson made a last-ditch effort to lure another megastar to Teesside because he didn’t want the heyday at the Riverside to end.
Ronaldinho’s chase by Middlesbrough was unsuccessful, but he soon left Barcelona.
However, Ronaldinho would continue at Barcelona for the rest of the 2007–08 campaign before ending his spell at Camp Nou in the summer of 2008.
Even if Manchester City submitted a bid of £25.5 million for him, AC Milan would still pay £14.6 million to get him to the San Siro, despite worries about his party lifestyle and the accompanying fitness and conditioning standards.
After playing for AC Milan for two and a half years, he returned to his home country of Brazil in January 2011 to join with Flamengo.
Ronaldinho would play football in South America for the remainder of his career, playing for Queretaro of Mexico and Atletico Mineiro of Brazil before returning to Brazil in 2015 to play for Fluminense.
Middlesbrough had a precipitous downturn after Ronaldinho’s pursuit.
Following their effort to sign Ronaldinho, Middlesbrough would see a very precipitous downturn.
Gibson would still support Southgate, but Boro would have a terrible 2008–09 season in which they finished 19th in the Premier League, which led to their relegation to the Championship. The team had finished 13th in the 2007–08 season.
Was there ever any prospect that Middlesbrough would be able to get Ronaldinho to the Riverside? Most likely not. Given that he was 27 years old and at the height of his abilities with Barcelona, it may have been quite simple for him to decide to sign with Boro in what appeared to be a relegation struggle at the time.
But it would have been one of the most shocking and incredible transactions in football history if they had been able to secure a deal for one of the greatest players to ever put on a pair of boots.
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