BARCELONA sporting director Txiki Begiristain admits the club are still "waiting for concrete offers" for Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o despite reported interest from teams in the Barclays Premier League.
Both players have been told they are surplus to requirements at the Nou Camp by new coach Pep Guardiola, as was Portuguese playmaker Deco, who this week joined Chelsea.
Outspoken Cameroon striker Eto'o was expected to be the most valuable of the t
hree but has seemingly attracted little interest, with no clubs going on record to state their interest.
Ronaldinho, meanwhile, has been linked with AC Milan, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Only City have publicly courted the Brazilian, manager Mark Hughes said yesterday talks are "ongoing", but Begiristain told media gathered for the unveiling of £23million full-back Dani Alves that there have been no firm offers for either player.
"There is no news," he said.
"We are waiting for concrete offers from other clubs so that we can negotiate."
Begiristain also reiterated the club's intention to hold out for their valuation of each player.
He said: "I understand that this is difficult because there are not many clubs in the world willing to pay these amounts.
City yesterday displayed their spending power by landing Brazil striker Jo from CSKA Moscow for a club record fee of £19m.
And Hughes, who replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson earlier this summer, remains hopeful of also bringing in two-time FIFA world player of the year Ronaldinho.
"He is a world star and if these things are going to happen they are likely to take a bit of time and we are patient," said Hughes.
The full article contains 276 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
