ONE minute he is their most emblematic player, then, as quick as you can say weight problem, Ronaldinho is being written out of Barcelona's future.
Meanwhile, diminutive playmaker Deco, another with a laissez-faire attitude to training, is as good as booted out the door to Chelsea.
Having not so long ago steered the club to back-to-back league titles and the Champions League, these were depar
tures that must have had neutrals rolling their eyes in disbelief. Along with the volatile Samuel Eto'o, who has also been told he has no future at the Nou Camp, the pairing of Ronaldinho and Deco was pivotal in the revitalisation of Barcelona during the first few years of president Joan Laporta's reign.
"A cycle that gave us good moments, including glorious ones, is now over," said Laporta at the end of a second consecutive season without a trophy. "And if cycles are ended," Laporta added, "then so are the people that formed that group."
Ronaldinho, who has joined AC Milan, and Deco are not the only fall guys. Gianluca Zambrotta (also to Milan), Jose Edmilson (to Villarreal) and young Giovani Dos Santos (to Tottenham), as well as Lilian Thuram and Santiago Ezquerro have all packed their bags this summer as the club seeks to shed a few of its more egotistical players.
A new, fresher team awaits pre-season training in Scotland next week under the auspices of Pep Guardiola who succeeded Frank Rijkaard.
It seems the new coach's tactic is to sell the prima donnas in the hope he can create a more harmonious atmosphere ready to challenge Real Madrid's monopoly on La Liga. Somewhat ironically, it's the same method used by Fabio Capello two years ago when Real Madrid were attempting to counter Barca's dominance. The Italian ended the "galactico" era at Madrid and built the platform for success that Bernd Schuster continued last term. And though Barca never had an official "galactico" policy themselves, Guardiola believes that by selling off the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto'o – for whom they are yet to find a buyer – there will be an end to the in-fighting many believe undermined the club.
With the defence being Barcelona's Achilles' heel, the new coach sought to remedy this area first, bringing home Barcelona-born Gerard Pique from Manchester United, acquiring Uruguay centreback Martin Caceres from Villarreal and, most significantly, paying around £23m for Brazilian right-back Dani Alves from Sevilla.
Joining Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure in the midfield are Malian Seydou Keita and Belarus international Alexander Hleb, who signed from Arsenal for £11.9m.
It remains to be seen if rookie coach Guardiola is the right man. But one thing is absolutely certain – it will be a very different Barcelona that lines up against Hibs and Dundee United.
The full article contains 481 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
