Brazilian superstar footballer Ronaldinho has reportedly rejected an offer to be part of the English club Leicester City, with some signs pointing to the possibility of joining Chinese second-tier club Tianjin Songjiang, as reported by Shanghai Daily.
According to a report by the Indo-Asian News Service, Tianjin Songjiang, which is managed by former Real Madrid and Brazil coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, might soon be picked by Ronaldinho.
"Rumor has it that the billionaire who took Luxemburgo to China demanded in the contract that the coach also accept the arrival of Ronaldinho," according to a Brazilian media report on Tuesday.
Luxemburgo was Ronaldinho's manager in 2011 at Flamengo, but the two ended their working relationship on sour terms the following year, weeks before Luxemburgo was removed from the club.
On Wednesday, Feb. 3, Brazilian portal Lancenet reported that Leicester manager Caludio Raneiro offered Ronaldinho a place in his club during the January transfer window.
However, Ronaldinho rejected the offer. Instead, Leicester signed teenage winger Demarai Gray and Ghanaian Daniel Amartey.
Ronaldinho has not played competitively since September, when he parted ways with Fluminense.
If the rumor proves true, Ronaldinho will be one of several Brazilian players who have joined Chinese clubs in the past two months. The others include Ramires (Jiangsu Suning), Luis Fabiano (Tianjin Quanjian), Jadson (Tianjin Quanjian), Renato August (Beijing Guo'an), Gil (Shandong Luneng) and Ralf (Beijing Guo'an).
Chinese clubs have spent more than any other country during the January transfer window, according to FIFA's Transfer Matching System (TMS). Due to several high-profile transfers to the Chinese Super League (CSL), the country is now the third highest spender for international players, next only to England and Spain.
China is set to overtake Spain after more than 30 transfers are processed by the TMS, including Jackson Martinez's, who has been signed to Guangzhou Evergrande from Atletico Madrid on Wednesday for a reported 42 million euros ($47 million).
Even without the Martinez deal, Chinese clubs spent 33 million pounds for 10 players during the January transfer window, as compared with 120 pounds for 115 players by English clubs and 42 million pounds for 104 players by Spanish clubs.
China's transfer window does not close until Feb. 26, so the level of spending can only get higher.