As bizarre it may sound, Ronaldinho’s move to St. Mirren was not a wild rumor, it would definitely have almost happened.
The man who almost brought about this remarkable transfer – Tom Hendrie – explains how one of the greatest players of all time almost honored Scottish Premiership.
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Spoiler alarm: He did not do it-and instead developed into one of the most entertaining footballers of all time by winning the World Cup, the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or.
But how would it almost become of all-time sizes to become a buddie?
Ronaldinho changes to PSG
In 2001, Paris Saint-Germain hired the young Brazilian, a jewel who amazed the scouts.
Just a year earlier, they enthusiastically returned from South America after seeing how he had torn every opponent who came in his way.
When he was only 18 years old, he had already caused a stir and scored an impressive 22 goals in 47 games in 1999.
PSG was exposed to hard competition by Arsenal, but the Brazilian magician traveled to France with a transfer fee of 5 million euros and a five -year contract that was finally agreed.
However, after the signing of a pre -contractual agreement, Ronaldinho was in the suspension.
When the Brazilian season came to an end, he had no technically a contract until he entered the Princes Parc.
St. Mirren comes and calls
In order to stay fit for his upcoming adventure, Ronaldinho was looking for a rental base, and St. Mirren almost made it.
Since they were desperately looking for a goal scorer, the Scottish premier ship fighters remained at the end of the league and stood in front of a dark last quarter of the season.
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Then came the call that changed almost everything for manager Tom Hendrie.
One day before the transfer is closed, Hendrie received an unexpected call from Brazil.
Ronaldinho’s services were offered St. Mirren, the buddies could soon be given his attack skills for the rest of the season.
Hendrie said to The Sun at the time: “Ronaldinho was a young guy; He was not the star he has become, but we have certainly tried to find someone who holds us in the Premier League and scores goals for us. “
“It seemed to be a win-win situation for everyone.
“PSG was satisfied with it because they thought it was good for the boy to come here and get used to European football.
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“The whole thing seemed to be at stake. We contacted the Ministry of the Interior, they contacted the club in Brazil and the Interior Ministry said that the deal would come about on paper. ”
“We agreed with PSG to the type of accommodation, offered him a car and agreed to pay him a similar salary as what we paid our players, which was low compared to what they paid. “
But as promising as it seemed, time crowded against it, and although hope grew, hurdles kept appearing.
Heart pain for Hendrie and St. Mirren
When the deadline moved closer, it seemed as if Ronaldinho would soon be on the pitch for the last three months of the season.
But tragically, the dream disappeared to see him at Sunny Paisley.
St. Mirren needed Gremio to release his star, while the Brazilian football association had to confirm its PSG status before the loan could continue.
Unfortunately, the Brazilians were distracted.
Hendrie summarized the catastrophe as follows: “What happened was that Brazil played a game and the Brazilian football association had closed; Nobody worked, everyone looked at a football game and we just went away with the time. ”
“It was simply because the Brazilian football association could not make it in time due to this game.”
“It was too late and we didn’t have time. The Scottish Football Association would no longer accept registration after March 31. ”
How did Ronaldinho beat PSG?
Ronaldinho’s time at PSG was almost transformative.
He developed into an incredible talent and quickly conquered the hearts of the fans with his flair, his skills and breathtaking goals that made the Princes Parc shine.
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He played an indispensable role on the way of PSG and led her to the semi -finals of the Coupe de la Ligue in 2002.
Despite his undeniable talent, he finally left PSG in 2003 and moved to Barcelona, where he gained the world fame, which he had earned so much.