Back from injury, Ronaldinho wants to make a fresh start.


Barca's magic man, Ronaldinho has committed his future to FC Barcelona. The Brazilian returned from injury and was named by coach Frank Rijkaard in the Champions League squad to face VFB Stuttgart in Germany on Tuesday. Ronaldinho took a press-given opportunity to speak on various issues surrounding him in recent times, issues which have only gone crazier since his injury and absence from the field of play. Transfers. Night parties. Loss of form. Tongues wagged. Assumption was made. Conclusions were drawn. Now Ronnie steps out to defend himself:

I've heard all the attempts by some clubs to get me to play for them, but I'm simply not interested in any transfers. I do not want to go to either Chelsea or Milan, I want to stay with Barcelona. I want to play in the new Camp Nou stadium and capture great moments there. Norman Foster is doing a great job. He captured my imagination vividly. He has created a stadium with so much colour and joy and it is just like I imagined. It will be my new home. I am here to stay.

Ronaldinho responded to comments made about his reported night life being a critical factor in his absence from the pitch. The media had suggested Ronaldinho had lost focus as a result of constantly staying out late at night and hanging around clubs and disco halls, a situation which Ronaldinho says was exaggerated and blown out of proportion:

What was said about my lifestyle did bother me and I will answer those critics on the pitch. I have always known when is the appropriate time do things and when I can and cannot go out. I have always lived like that. I go out now as much as I did two years ago. Everyone knows me and knows what I am like and I do not hide. I am a well known person so everyone knows what I do. My life has been the same for five years since I came here. Nothing has changed. Everything has been exaggerated and painted wrongly.

Ronnie signed off but not without paying tribute to his beloved Barca fans, who the media reported he had brushes with over the past few weeks. The fans chanted his name as a show of support and were eager to see the Brazilian magician back on the pitch. Ronaldinho says:

I was very pleased with what happened. Barca fans are great. They are simply wonderful. Hearing my name from them was the best show of support I could have received. I was in the changing room and I really wanted to go out there and play and to embrace the fans. It was a great boost in my battle to come back and I am pleased to be fit again.