Former Barcelona star Rivaldo is the latest player
to come out in defence of Ronaldinho, claiming the Catalan club are
putting pressure on the Brazil playmaker to leave. Ronaldinho has
rarely been out of the spotlight this season with media focus
regularly shifting between his weight, his fitness, his form, his
private life and his future at the Nou Camp.
Most recently, the former FIFA World Player of the Year has hit
the headlines after complaining of a thigh injury that subsequent
scans showed no evidence of. Ronaldinho was also back in the news
on Wednesday after returning to squad training having missed
Barca's last five matches, but Rivaldo believes the club is
purposefully turning people against his former Brazil team-mate in
order to sell him at the end of the season.
"I think it's sad that a club can do this to one of their
players," the AEK Athens forward told Spanish radio station Ona FM.
"They're turning people against him and this suggests to me that
they want to sell him and they're looking for excuses to do so.
"If players want to go out then let them. If after they score
three goals and play well you win the league then there's no
problem, but if you lose it's different." Rivaldo found himself in
a similar position in his final year at the Nou Camp after a
falling-out with the then coach Louis van Gaal, and eventually left
the club after agreeing not to renew his contract and joining AC
Milan.
"It's difficult for a player when your own club does this," he
added. "It's like having a father who is against his own son. "A
father should always look for the best thing for their son. If your
son takes drugs you don't go to the newspapers to tell everyone
about it, you talk to him and when you talk things get sorted
out.
"Sometimes they don't treat their stars well at Barca. You can't
make one player responsible for everything, the other players get
paid too and very well."
