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July 5, 2008, 1:34 pm

Fantasy Soccer: Ronaldinho to Red Bulls

Let us speculate.

The Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has been all but banished by Barcelona's new coach Pep Guardiola. On Friday, the club said that while Ronaldinho does not figure in the plans of the guy who replaced Frank Rijkaard, what it considers low-ball offers from clubs like A.C. Milan, Manchester City and Chelsea are not acceptable. There were even published reports recently that the Los Angeles Beckhams, er, Galaxy, were trying to somehow rewrite the rules and land Ronaldinho, in addition to Becks, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz.

But what if …

Dial back to the middle of May, when Barcelona, which has designs on becoming a bigger name in the United States, signed a five-year partnership agreement with Major League Soccer's marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing. The club will play two exhibitions in the U.S. this summer — including a return to Giants Stadium to play the Red Bulls on Aug. 6.

What else could come of the partnership?

What if … Barcelona was unable to obtain the transfer it is seeking, reportedly more than $60 million. What if … the club, instead of peddling Ronaldinho, worked out a deal with M.L.S. to loan him to M.L.S. (which still controls all player contracts), which could then assign him to the Red Bulls. First the Red Bulls would have to buy out the contract of the oft-injured midfielder Claudio Reyna, one of the team's two designated players.

The M.L.S. transfer window opens on July 15. And at this point, the league has not made public how it potentially would deal with a request from the Red Bulls to end the contract of one designated player (Reyna) to obtain another (Ronaldinho). But while Ronaldinho has two years left on his Barcelona contract and the club, why not loan him to M.L.S. for something like $15 million a year (plus a hefty salary).

Barcelona recoups some cash and garners incredible goodwill with M.L.S. and American soccer fans; and the Red Bulls (adding to their growing roster of South American players) and the league have another true marquee player.

Barcelona is happy. M.L.S. is happy. And the Red Bulls are happy. And all of a sudden cavernous Giants Stadium does not look that big and the Red Bulls do not look that bad.

Again, this is pure, unadulterated speculation. But hey, it sure sounds great.

And how good would Ronaldinho look and play in a Red Bulls jersey against his former team in less than a month.

We can dream.

Source: NYTimes