Brazil forward Ronaldinho stays with Barcelona

Brazil soccer Ronaldinho said his current difficulties will not force him out of FC Barcelona.

Photo: Brazil forward Ronaldinho stays with Barcelona

The Brazil forward, who is under contract until 2010, has endured a lackluster start to the season amid reports that he broke Barcelona's code of conduct by going out two days before a match.

Substituted in three matches, Ronaldinho then had a calf strain which kept him sidelined for the past three league games - all of which Barcelona won in style.

British media have suggested Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sees Ronaldinho's arrival as the answer to the club's slump since the departure of coach Jose Mourinho and is willing to pay Barcelona 70 million pounds (EUR100 million; US$141 million) for the 27-year-old Brazilian.

Meanwhile, AC Milan appears keen to add Ronaldinho to a roster which already includes compatriots Ronaldo and Kaka.

"Not Chelsea or Milan. I want to stay with Barcelona. That's my wish, Ronaldinho's wish," the player was quoted as saying by Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo on Monday.

The two-time FIFA world player of the year, who has been recalled for Barcelona's Champions League Group E game at Stuttgart on Tuesday, denied breaching club rules.

"That annoyed me because I have been here for five seasons and I have always behaved the same way. I was annoyed, that's understandable, but life isn't always marvelous. At times like this, I concentrate on my work. I will give my response on the field," Ronaldinho said.

"Whenever a newspaper writes something bad there are a lot of people giving me encouragement. At Barcelona I feel at home."

Ronaldinho, who helped the team win back-to-back Spanish league titles as well as the 2006 Champions League, said he hadn't tired of success.

"I want to win everything I have already won. What keeps me here is looking around the dressing room and seeing a group of really great players, with such talent, who can make history at the club," he said.

Ronaldinho said he hopes to be playing for Barcelona in 2009 when British architect Norman Foster is due to have completed the modernization of Camp Nou stadium.

"When the next stadium is opened I would like to be able to appear before my crowd having won two more Champions Leagues, around me a great team which is capable of winning more titles," he said.

"It's as if Foster had got inside my head. He has created a stadium with so much color, so much joy. It's the stadium I imagined, it's as if it was my new house."