MLS Owner Hints Ronaldinho On His Way To Los Angeles Galaxy

Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts wants you to read between the lines.  There - in bold, 14-point, Comic Sans font - Checketts has let it be known:  

Ronaldinho is coming to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

In speaking to radio station KALL, Checketts hinted that Major League Soccer is about to announce its second big signing of the summer:

"I expect [...] Major League Soccer to make another announcement in the next couple of days about another very big world superstar coming to our league," Checketts revealed to radio station KALL 10 Sports.

Checketts, who made sure to add that this announcement will not involve his own team, would not release any more information about the exact identity of the player but left little space for speculation.

"I would imagine that this guy is coming to L.A. and you'll all recognise who he is." Asked whether the player is Brazilian, Checketts just said "I think he might".

Los Angeles currently has two Designated Players, David Beckham and Landon Donovan. To sign a third Designated Player, the Galaxy would have to pay a $250,000 luxury tax, an amount which would be distributed to the league's other teams as allocation money - funds teams can use to sign players or put toward salaries (for the purpose of getting under the salary cap).

Though Ronaldinho is coming off a rebound season with Milan, rumors have surrounded the Brazilian all summer.  The two-time FIFA Player of the Year had been linked with Brazil's São Paulo before more resent reports that he had come to a verbal agreement to join the Brasileirao's defending champions, Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo.  There have also been reports that the former World Cup and Champions League winner could join Olympiakos in Greece.

In responding to the reports that Ronaldinho agreed to join Flamengo, Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said Ronaldinho will play for Milan next season:

[Galliani] told calciomercato.com: "He is coming back to Italy with his brother. There has been no request to leave on his part and no offer from Flamengo or other clubs.

"Ronaldinho has a contract with AC Milan and there is no (loophole) clause as I read in some newspapers.

"He will play next season for Milan."

Were he to join Los Angeles, Ronaldinho would join a team that not only features the league's reigning Most Valuable Player (Donovan) but also has the league's leading scorer (Edson Buddle), the goalkeeper with the best statistical record (Donovan Ricketts), and the last two Rookies of the Year (Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez).

Having lost last year's MLS Cup on penalty kicks to Real Salt Lake in the final, Los Angeles sits six points clear of RSL for the league's best record.