Milan and Barcelona to meet with Ronaldinho

The three sides involved with the Ronaldinho transfer saga – his current club Barcelona, his suitors AC Milan and the player – are expected to meet in Barcelona on Monday to finalise his 15million Euro move to Italy.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that after a day of telephone calls the Brazilian is returning to Spain from Porto Alegre on Monday with his agent and brother Roberto de Assis and will meet with officials from Barcelona and Milan.

Initially it was thought the player – who fell out of favour at Barca last season as his form dipped – was reluctant to be present at the summit following the Spanish club's refusal to release him for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

However, the former World Player of the Year – who has also been linked with English Premiership side Manchester City – will now meet with Barcelona's technical director Txiki Begiristain and Milan's vice-president Adriano Galliani.

One man confident that the deal will be concluded in time for the 28 year-old to be present at Milan's opening training session on July 16 is Ernesto Bronzetti, the Italian club's Spanish consultant.

“I spoke with Ronaldinho as he was leaving Porto Alegre for Barcelona and he told me I want to play for you',” Bronzetti told the newspaper.

The consultant also suggested that the Italians will be happy to release the World Cup winner for Brazil's attempt to win their first Olympic gold.

“I believe that Galliani has already said yes to him.”