According to the Spanish media this morning, Chelsea have begun legal action against the claims of outgoing Barcelona president Joan Laporta that the Blues offered himself and current presidential candidate Sandro Rosell a cut in a deal for Ronaldinho .
The claims emerged a couple of weeks ago as part of Barcelona’s typically political presidential election campaign. Outgoing president Joan Laporta fell out with leading candidate Sandro Rosell when the latter was his vice-president and apparently is now campaigning against his former deputy.
Laporta claims in a new book recording his presidency that Chelsea were desperate to sign Brazilian star Ronaldinho in 2004, when the former World Player of the Year was regarded as the best footballer on the planet. Rosell apparently encouraged the deal as Chelsea had offered that the pair share a £7m kick-back as part of the deal.
In his book, Laporta says, "I told him to get it out of his head, that Ronnie was not for sale and I didn't want to talk about it any more but he added: 'Joan, they are giving us a commission of 10 per cent.'
"Sandro kept insisting about the offer of Chelsea pretending he didn't want it to happen.
"He reminded me that if we accepted they were giving us 10m euros to share between us. That attitude made me profoundly indignant."
For his part, Rosell vehemently denied the accusations, threatening legal action against Laporta.
However, Laporta has repeated his claims against Rosell, telling Spanish station RAC1 this week, "I told him directly, twice, once in Madrid and once in Paris" that he was not interested in the proposed cut, after which point, "I started to think badly of him."
Chelsea responded angrily to the claims at the time and a club spokesman said a couple of weeks ago, “It's total nonsense. We never made such an offer."
Now, both Spanish dailies ‘Sport’ and Mundo Deportivo report that Chelsea have enlisted a Barcelona law firm to take action, requesting that Laporta’s book be withdrawn due to the allegations.
Ronaldinho is currently enjoying an excellent season at AC Milan and is pushing for a recall to Brazil’s squad in time for this summer’s World Cup.
The claims emerged a couple of weeks ago as part of Barcelona’s typically political presidential election campaign. Outgoing president Joan Laporta fell out with leading candidate Sandro Rosell when the latter was his vice-president and apparently is now campaigning against his former deputy.
Laporta claims in a new book recording his presidency that Chelsea were desperate to sign Brazilian star Ronaldinho in 2004, when the former World Player of the Year was regarded as the best footballer on the planet. Rosell apparently encouraged the deal as Chelsea had offered that the pair share a £7m kick-back as part of the deal.
In his book, Laporta says, "I told him to get it out of his head, that Ronnie was not for sale and I didn't want to talk about it any more but he added: 'Joan, they are giving us a commission of 10 per cent.'
"Sandro kept insisting about the offer of Chelsea pretending he didn't want it to happen.
"He reminded me that if we accepted they were giving us 10m euros to share between us. That attitude made me profoundly indignant."
For his part, Rosell vehemently denied the accusations, threatening legal action against Laporta.
However, Laporta has repeated his claims against Rosell, telling Spanish station RAC1 this week, "I told him directly, twice, once in Madrid and once in Paris" that he was not interested in the proposed cut, after which point, "I started to think badly of him."
Chelsea responded angrily to the claims at the time and a club spokesman said a couple of weeks ago, “It's total nonsense. We never made such an offer."
Now, both Spanish dailies ‘Sport’ and Mundo Deportivo report that Chelsea have enlisted a Barcelona law firm to take action, requesting that Laporta’s book be withdrawn due to the allegations.
Ronaldinho is currently enjoying an excellent season at AC Milan and is pushing for a recall to Brazil’s squad in time for this summer’s World Cup.
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