Ronaldinho: Just one boy from Brazil

The Brazilian football federation estimates that 5,000 footballers from the country play for foreign clubs. One of those players is Jose Ramirez Barreto, a veteran of sorts on Indian soil, having played in the country for four years now. In the recently-concluded transfer season, Barreto shattered all previous records by signing up with Kolkata club Mohun Bagan (the club with which he began his career in India) for an estimated Rs 61 lakh. The previous highest contract signed with an Indian club was by East Bengal for Baichung Bhutia for Rs 15 lakh in 2004.

Now Barreto's booty may compare poorly with that of one country cousin called Ronaldinho, whose contract with FC Barcelona has a get-out clause worth M125 million (Rs 725 crore) till 2010. (The get-out clause ensures that any club wanting to sign on Ronaldinho before 2010 will have to pay Barcelona m125 million) What's more, according to German national news agency DPA, the 23-man Brazilian squad at the FIFA World Cup 2006 has a collective market value of M410 million (Rs 2,378 crore). Yet, Barreto's signing up amount is significant from the Indian context (don't forget India is buried at 117th in the FIFA rankings). It reveals the enthusiasm amongst the big clubs to splurge on foreign players (In the first week of June this year, India's