Publications
Partners
New Delhi - Blackburn Rovers have made an offer for AC Milan forward Ronaldinho and are also chasing former England captain David Beckham, the Indian owners of the Premier League club said on Tuesday.
"Yes, we have made an offer to Ronaldinho but it is still in the early stage," Venkateshwara Rao, joint managing director of Indian poultry giant Venky's, told Reuters.
"Similarly, we have made an effort to get Beckham on loan but again, nothing has come out of it so far."
Beckham, who has asked Los Angeles Galaxy if he can make an off-season loan move, has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur although other Premier League clubs have expressed an interest.
Rao also said the club was also about to hand manager Steve Keane a longer reign.
"We have not decided on the terms yet but it can be for two, three years, maybe even four."
Keane was named caretaker manager and given the job until the end of the season after Sam Allardyce was fired last month.
Rao declined to reveal how much the club was offering Ronaldinho to lure him to Ewood Park after the former world player of the year left AC Milan's Dubai training base to return to Brazil and find a new club.
However, it would be a significant coup for the new owners of Rovers if they could attract a player who wowed crowds with his brilliance while at Barcelona from 2003 to 2008 and who helped Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002.
AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi said the club was sorry to see the 30-year-old Brazilian go.
"I'm sorry he went away, he is the greatest player in the world in terms of speed of thought and execution. But it was his choice to return to Brazil," Berlusconi told reporters on a visit to a Milan training session in Rome.
Ronaldinho and his brother-agent are now talking to Brazilian clubs including Gremio, Flamengo and
