Is Ronaldinho Really Worth $180 Million?

They don't call the summer transfer window "the silly season" for nothing...

Reports in Spain suggest that AC Milan are prepared to pay £89 million ($180 million) for Ronaldinho.

Spanish daily AS claims that Milan chief Silvio Berlusconi is prepared to pay the 125 million Euros required to trigger Ronaldinho's buy-out clause at Barcelona.

The reports claim that Milan will make a series of bids for the striker, but if they do not succeed then such is Berlusconi's desire to bring him to the San Siro, he will meet the enormous buy-out clause, which would comfortably break the world transfer record currently held by Real Madrid, who paid £45.6 million for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.

Right. This is about as likely as me wooing Colleen McLoughlin away from Wayne Rooney.

First off, AC Milan just won the Champions League, so there's no pressing need for Ronaldinho except to sell a few more tickets during the Serie A season. Second, Ronaldinho already plays for a club that has shown it's serious about taking back the Champions League crown, which it won in 2006, by bringing in Thierry Henry. Third, the $180 million is just the transfer fee, not the salary, so the whole deal would probably cost AC Milan something close to $250 million.

Please. What footballer is worth $250 mil... oh, yeah. Right. Never mind.

(H/T: The Offside)