Ronaldinho: The Brazilian nut

Sir Alex has never known anything like it in all his 16 years at the club. For a start there has been the continued whingeing from the Brazilian about being played out of position ever since his £20 million arrival from Paris St Germain. Next came his refusal to be substituted during a key Champions League game and then there was the row about that girl of ill-repute smuggled into the team hotel.

But what has really made Ferguson mad this time was Ronaldinho's reaction to being replaced 15 minutes before the end of a Premiership game. Incensed, the Brazilian just walked past his manager, put his hand to his mouth and called him "a son of a whore".

No wonder Ferguson has gone ballistic ... Beckham was never this much trouble.

If anyone at Manchester United thinks this unbelievable, they should think again.

Substitute the name Luis Fernandez for Ferguson and PSG for Manchester United and the above represents an accurate account of the Brazilian's antics in Paris last season when he abused the coach with language that managers this side of the Channel prefer to dish out - not receive.

And the Brazilian was in more hot water in France last week after he failed to turn up for the first day of pre-season training. The player was fined and the club accused him "of showing a lack a respect".

PSG are now openly talking about how he is more trouble than his worth and United's move for Ronaldinho moved a step nearer reality today when PSG's new coach Vahid Halilhodzic laughed off Barcelona's £14m bid plus players for the Brazilian.

However, while another critic described the Brazilian as behaving like "a cross between Paul Gascoigne and Nicolas Anelka", others have suggested he was justified in being frustrated after outshining every other player in the country.

Ronaldinho had a poor mid-season, but managed almost single-handedly to help the team reach the French Cup Final, which they lost to Auxerre. PSG finished an embarrassing 11th in the French League.

What is beyond doubt is that Ronaldinho, still only 23, is one of the best young talents around. So perhaps Ferguson will have to get used to the odd outburst or visit to a lap-dancing club.

Ronaldinho has had personal problems with both of the clubs he has been at in his short professional career. When he tried to negotiate his own transfer from Gremio in Brazil to PSG, the deal backfired terribly. As both clubs argued over a settlement, Ronaldinho became a local pariah, spent the first seven months of 2001 without playing a single club match and lost his place in the Brazil squad. At Paris he has behaved brattishly from the start, returning late from holidays and even smuggling a girl into the team hotel.

Coming to United will give the Brazilian the chance to grow up. "I think Ronaldinho is at that time of his career where he needs a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson," said Pele this week. "I believe a move to United will develop and improve Ronaldinho not only as a player but also as a human being."

Born Ronaldo Assis Moreira in a poor suburb of Porto Alegre, Brazil's southernmost city, Ronaldinho - it means Little Ronaldo - was singled out for greatness as a child. Ronaldinho's brother Roberto - professionally known as Assis - played for Gremio, the local team. There is local TV footage of the boys' father, Joao, talking about Assis and saying: "You think he's good? You should see his little brother."

The family moved into a large home in a nicer part of town bought by Gremio for Assis, to stop him transferring to Torino in Italy. But it brought tragedy. Joao had a heart attack in the pool and died aged 42.

Assis never fulfilled his early promise and soon Ronaldinho was the family's star. He was top scorer in Brazil's team that won FIFA's Under-17 tournament in 1997, and two years later he led Gremio to the state championship title.

In the final game he memorably chipped the ball over the head of former Brazil captain Dunga. He marked his international debut in a competitive match - against Venezuela in the 1999 Copa America - with a similar move. He chipped the ball over a defender and scored, earning comparisons with the young Pele. The timid, gangly, buck-toothed youngster moved to Paris in 2001. He scored 17 goals in his first season and was selected for the World Cup squad.

Korea and Japan confirmed his international potential. Together with Ronaldo and Rivaldo, he made up Brazil's attacking trinity that swept them to their fifth World Cup title, knocking out England on the way with his 40-yard free-kick.

His love of nightlife was also hitting the headlines. On the day of the England match, lusty lap dancer Lisa Collins told a UK tabloid that Ronaldinho made love "like a pneumatic drill". Journalists in Porto Alegre report that he is building himself an adolescent fantasy home with a dance floor in his bedroom.

Returning as world champion to PSG a mediocre team in a mediocre league, was always going to be difficult.

Ronaldinho hardly speaks any French. He lives with an entourage including his brother, who is his agent, his sister Deisi, who is his PA, his best mate Tiago and his mother Miguelina. He reportedly has a home for his family and a home for his girlfriends - just the sort of arrangement to tickle Ferguson's fancy.

Alex Bellos is the author of Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life