Ronaldinho fatPeter Kenyon, the man who claimed he was a red before jumping ship as soon as Roman’s money came to Chelsea, is despised by United fans. He is a slimy rat who’d shag his own gran, scouser style, for a few bob, and sold his soul when he joined Chelsea.

Two months before he left, Kenyon managed arguably the greatest transfer cock up in United’s history. Ronaldinho, before being the twice World and European Player of the Year, was all set to come to Manchester United. We first became interested back in 2001 when Ronaldinho was leaving Gremio for Europe. Unfortunately, due to work permit restrictions, a move to a Premiership side couldn’t be completed, so he joined PSG.

He won the World Cup in 2002 and a year later was ready to move to a bigger club, one which promised appearances in the European Cup. Beckham was on the way out, tipped to join Barcelona, meaning we’d have the cash to buy Ronaldinho. However, in the summer of 2003, Beckham joined Real Madrid and Ronaldinho completed a move to Barcelona, whilst United had to settle for some Portuguese teenager who was supposedly going to be the greatest player in the World one day…

United had followed Ronaldinho for years and were keen to sign him, so where did it all go wrong? The player had let it be known he was interested in a move to United, so why didn’t he end up playing in red? Two words: Peter Kenyon.

A bidding war took place between Peter Kenyon and Barcelona’s Sandro Rosell for the Brazilian’s contract, starting at £10 million. The figure for the player continued to rise until Rossel backed down at £18 million. Kenyon was able to better that, and offered a deal worth £20 million. Done.

However, the following day when the fax went through to PSG from United, the figure stated was £19 million. Kenyon had found out that Barca had dropped out at £18 million, so without further discussion, decided to lower the price we were offering. The PSG president, Francis Graille, did not respond to this kindly, telling United the deal was off. Kenyon came back groveling, confirming United were prepared to pay the £20 million they had agreed, but it was too late.

Rosell got a phone call informing him that Barcelona’s bid was successful and they could have the player for £18 million, with the more honourable representative getting the deal he desired, ahead of the snake in the grass. The depressing years between our title win in 2003 up until our recent reclamation in 2007 could have had a different story if not for Kenyon’s embarrassingly underhand methods. For the sake of Kenyon and £1 million we lost out on one of the most talented players in the past couple of decades.

However, what was our loss five years ago might now be our neighbour’s gain.

If recent reports are to be trusted, it seems as though Sven and Dr Death are working the bitters’ favoured trick of “come and play for Manchester”, in a bid to get Ronaldinho to play at the Wastelands. This story first surfaced a couple of weeks ago, with Sven confirming he’d be interested in signing the player, but this was followed with reports that a deal with Milan was done and dusted.

The story has re-emerged today however, this time with the confirmation that talks have actually gone on between Ronaldinho and City. The “only team from Manchester” executive director, born and bred Manc (maybe not), Taweesuk Srisumrid, has today announced that talks have gone on with Ronaldinho, and the blues are looking to sign a whole host of superstars in the summer.

“What we will look to do in the summer is to further boost the squad, bring in top-quality, internationally recognised players,” Taweesuk said. “Superstars would help fill the stadium and help our global branding. Primarily, we must win on the pitch – it can’t be a gimmick. We’ve had discussions [with Ronaldinho] but we’ll see how that pans out. We’ve looked at a host of players. Man City having discussions with superstar players used to be unimaginable, but not now.”

Wow, well would you believe it. Several years after he’s peaked and well in to his decline, Ronaldinho could be heading to Manchester. The overweight player, who has seemingly taken his eye of the game and re-aligned it with women and pies, has managed just 8 goals in La Liga this season, following a spate of injury and poor form. In total, he has bagged just 9 goals in the 26 matches he played in, and has faced harsh criticism from the Spanish press.

Team mate Xavi has spoken out this month about the damage the Brazilian star, who Barca seem more than happy to let leave, has suffered this season. “His situation isn’t pleasant because he’s being talked about,” he said. “For years, it was all positive and now it seems more negative, but the problem is worse for him than anybody. This image has been created and there is no longer a reverse gear.”

So will Ronaldinho join Massive Manchester City over AC and Inter Milan, who have both stated their interest? I really, really hope so. The excitement around Manchester from the blueshite would be too good to miss out on. Christ, their fans are excited enough to see their team score a goal at home following last season, can you imagine the buzz if Ronaldinho is wearing their shirt? In fact, can you imagine the amount of City shirts you’ll see with Ronaldinho’s name and number on the back around town? They might actually start to wear their shirt with pride, can you imagine it? The thought of Ronaldinho getting seven shades of shit kicked out of him as he wobbles up and down Wastelands is priceless.

So come on Ronaldinho, do what you’re told, and “sign for Manchester”