During the mid-2000’s, the influx of money in the Premier League made it the hotbed for European football.
Stars from some of the biggest clubs on the continent were brought in to develop a product of English football that had never been seen before.
However, there was always one player who almost every fan in the country dreamt their club would sign but who never actually graced the English top flight with his presence – Ronaldinho.
The Brazilian superstar was unquestionably one of the best players around this time ten years ago and was constantly being linked with a possible switch to the Premier League.
In a rare interview with FourFourTwo, the now retired Ronaldinho has opened up on just how close he was to moving to England.
“I don’t regret not having played in England, but it could have been special because it’s a fantastic league,” he said.
“Chelsea tried to take me there once, and some other teams were interested in signing me, too.”
“The league there is so fast and so intense all of the time – it’s great to watch and not boring at all.
“I don’t tend to watch all 90 minutes of Premier League games, but I will see more of the highlights and the goals in the Premier League than other leagues around the world.”
Despite the fact, Ronaldinho never turned out week-in, week-out in the Premier League, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a thorn in the side of English clubs.
During his successful spell at Barcelona, he was often the cause of heartbreak for many clubs from these shores in the Champions League.
But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t tested by the best England had to offer and even revealed that Chelsea were the toughest team he played against in Europe.
He added: “In Europe it had to be Chelsea,” he says. “We played against them every year in the Champions League – it was always fierce.”
In fact, one of his most iconic goals for the Catalans was against Chelsea in 2005.
The Brazilian collected the ball at the edge of the box, faced with a wall of Blue shirts and somehow still managed to find the far corner.
And Ronaldinho also revealed his inspiration behind the goal.
“There was a lot of futsal in that goal,” he continued.
“It was just a solution I found at that very moment, I didn’t plan it. Futsal is beautiful – not as much as it used to be, like in the days when keepers couldn’t also be strikers – but it is still beautiful.”
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