Paris, July 19: The marathon transfer saga of World Cup winner Ronaldinho is on hold over the weekend after a flurry of activity to capture the Brazilian's signature, sources said.
The latest negotiations with Manchester United, whose manager Alex Ferguson travelled to the French capital especially to meet Paris Saint Germain president Francis Graille, went on into the early hours of yesterday.
The discussions culminated in a new faxed offer sent to the French club yesterday morning, but this latest offer does not seem to have brought a move to the English champions any closer.
Graille had previously hit out at the English champions for failing to back up their verbal proposals with written offers.
Barcelona's new president Joan Laporta is still in touch with Graille and has tabled his final offer of around 30 million euros (33.5 million dollars).



Laporta is desperate to bring in a big name after losing out to bitter rivals Real Madrid in the race to sign England captain David Beckham from Manchester United.



Roberto Assis, Ronaldinho's brother and agent, again confirmed to PSG on Friday that the player is still open to negotiations with either United and Barcelona.



Ronaldinho, however, was still relaxing in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he is keeping in touch with negotiations during an extended holiday.



The 23-year-old Brazilian, still officially a PSG player, should be in pre-season training with his PSG teammates at Aix-Les-Bains and has consequently had his contract suspended.


Bureau Report