In his book "Un somni per als meus fills" (A dream for my sons), that was published this week, Barcelona president Joan Laporta explains how presidential candidate Sandro Rosell - then sports vice-president - tried to convince him in the spring of 2004 to sell Barcelona player Ronaldinho:"On 25 April 2004, the day we played against Madrid at the Bernabéu, he told me that Chelsea offered 100 millions for Ronaldinho. I told him to put it out of his head, that Ronnie was not for sale, that I didn't want to talk about the issue anymore, but he added: 'Jan, they give us a commission fee of 10%'.
A few weeks later, in May, Sandro mentioned the offer of Chelsea again. He insisted and said we could close it right there if me and him reached an agreement. I again reminded him that I didn't want to talk about it and that Ronaldinho wouldn't move from Barça.
Then he brought it up another time that if we accepted, they would give us 10 million euros which we could share between us. That attitude profoundly disappointed me."
Rosell yesterday made an official statement denying the story and saying that he could take the matter to court: "The report of the events in the book constitutes, because of its complete and absolute falseness, a serious attack on my honour and that is why I keep the option open to take the appropriate legal actions.
However, because of the respect I have for the presidency of FC Barcelona and since the defense of my honour is secondary to the interests of the club, I would only start those mentioned legal proceedings once the sports season and the electoral process have come to an end."
Read more:
Laporta wanted to replace Rosell by Cruyff
Rosell writing second book
Soriano scoring in Japan with management book
