The following excerpt from Jethro Soutar's biography of Ronaldinho illustrates how the transfer played out:
" The plot thickened when Ronaldinho was spotted in Madrid, but it turned out that he was only making an advert for Pepsi. In fact, Madrid’s interest cooled and Ronaldinho’s future suddenly boiled down to the choices of two: Barca or Man United
Negotiations hotted up. PSG’s directors lodged Rossell and Kenyon in neighbouring hotels in Lyon and walked back and forth between the two, getting one to outbid the other, each oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes.
In this way, Ronaldnho’s transfer price was upped to €30mil (£20mil). Rosell had to drop out at €27mil (18.3) but Kenyon met the asking price – plus €3million (£2mil) in add-ons – and the deal was done. Manchester United would send official confirmation as soon as Peter Kenyon had returned to Old Trafford.
However, when the fax arrived a few days later, it was for €28 million (£19 million) rather than the €30 million (£20million) agreed upon. Kenyon had got wind of the fact that Barca would not go beyond €27 million (£18.3million). Francis Graille, the PSG president, felt insulted and replied with a fax telling the Manchester club that they had broken their side of the bargain and the deal was off.
Old Trafford replied that 30mil was fine, but it was too late: Graille had called Rosell and told him Barca could have Ronaldinho for €27 million (£18.3 million). It had become a matter of principle and, while Rosell had acted honourably throughout, Kenyon, it was felt, had not. It ws one more reason for PSG to favour Barca. Besides, the bidding war had done it’s job: before the whole soap opera began, the first bid from Barca had been for €16 million (£10.8 million). Manchester United had started lower, though this was viewed in Paris as a further example of the condescending attitude emanating from Lancashire: Barca’s offers were at least respectable right from the start.
…..As the Man United team and entourage boarded a plane for their pre-season trip to the United States, they believed the deal was in the bag. By the time they landed, Ronaldinho had signed for Barcelona. Alex Ferguson was furious and his relationship with the chief executive would never recover: Kenyon left the club two months later, accepting a lucrative offer from Chelsea. "