One of the fascinating bylines to the Peace Match in Rome, the one that Arsene Wenger decamped to on transfer deadline day, was the presence of Abhishek Bachchan, one of team owners of the Chennai Titans, part of the consortium sent to discuss the possibility of luring Ronaldinho to India’s new Super League. Also in Rome, Prashant Agarwal, the CEO of Kshatriya Sports, who reportedly has been in touch with Roberto de Assis Moreira, Ronaldinho’s brother and agent, and is quite confident of the Brazilian maestro’s arrival in the ISL.
Ronaldinho was billed as one of the stars alongside Leo Messi and Andrea Pirlo featuring in the Peace Match with the Chennai Titans hoping this would be an opportunity to assess his match fitness and conduct negotiations on the side facilitated by Javier Zanetti, the Argentinian legend, one of the match organizers. Zanetti is one of Inter’s vice president and the Italian Serie side has a technical tie up with the Titans. But just like the slippery customer he was on the pitch, Ronaldinho did not show up, stating his inability to participate for some reason.
The no show has not dampened expectations. “Things are looking good at the moment. It’s not easy stitching a deal with a player as big as Ronaldinho but India is not out of the race,” said one official who is in the know of things.
The former Barca man’s arrival will be a major coup and the very short ISL season could be a big selling point, allowing him to globe trot to the MLS early next year touted as one of his destinations. The Brazilian is not the only target as the Titans are also in talks with Raul, Fabio Cannavaro, and Vincenzo Iaquinta. If hitting the 60’s and 70’s are the new 30’s and 40’s for the continually rocking Deep Purple, Judas Priest, and Rolling Stones frontmen, then footballers in their late 30s and 40s are still in their early 20s.