Brazilian legend Ronaldinho has revealed that it was his decision to leave Barcelona in 2008, claiming that he always had a good relationship to Pep Guardiola prior to leaving the Camp Nou, according to Marca.
Ronaldinho opted to up sticks from Barcelona after just five-year with the club, having moved to Catalonia in 2003 for £29m.
With his first spell in European football coming with Paris Saint-Germain, who purchased the Grêmio wonderkid in 2001, Ronaldinho wanted to follow in the footsteps of Frank Rijkaard and decided to move to AC Milan.
“I was the one who decided I should leave Barça during 2008, not Pep Guardiola,” Ronaldinho said.“I had already achieved my goals there and I needed a change.
“I always got on well with Pep and I worked with his brother [Pere] at Nike.”
After three years with AC Milan, in which Ronaldinho made 76 Serie A appearances, the Brazilian playmaker returned to his home country and had spells with Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and Fluminense, as well as a brief stint in Mexico with Querétaro in the Liga MX.
Having been a free agent since his departure from Fluminense in September 2015, Ronaldinho took the decision to formally retire in February of this year.
The likes of Philipp Lahm, Francesco Totti, Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso also retired from professional football in 2017, marking the end of the career for a number of national icons.
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