Talks on the transfer of the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and two-time world champion have “definitively” fallen through, the Milan club said on its website Friday. AC Milan execs have been in Madrid all week trying to get Real to lower their asking price for the ‘Phenomenon’, who revived his market value at this summer’s World Cup with strong displays after a dismal start in Brazil’s ultimately disappointing campaign .

According to Italian media reports, Milan Deputy Chairman Adriano Galliani was prepared to go as high as 16 million euros for the veteran ace, who turns 30 in a month .

But Real President Ramon Calderon was holding out for a 28-million-euro deal that included Milan’s Brazil 24-year-old midfield star Kaka’, the reports said .

Galliani has now flown down to Seville where he is expected to close a 10-million-euro deal for Real Betis’s Brazilian star Ricardo Oliveira .

Oliveira, 26, scored 22 goals in his first season for Betis before returning to Brazil to make an injury-thwarted bid for Brazil’s 2006 World Cup squad .

He has scored four times in 11 appearances for his country and is judged one of the most exciting strikers around .

Before moving to Valencia in 2003, he was voted the best striker in that year’s Copa Libertadores, playing for Brazilian giant Santos .

He won the Copa del Rey with Betis last season after picking up the Liga title and the UEFA Cup with Valencia in 2004 .

Oliveira was part of Brazil’s 2005 Confederations Cup-winning side. The year before he helped Brazil win the Copa America .

The Brazilian would join a strike force that includes Italy’s young star Alberto Gilardino and veteran Filippo Inzaghi, but was depleted by the departure last month of Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea .

As well as Oliveira, the six-time European champions are also reportedly interested in snapping up Juventus’ Italy attacking midfielder  Mauro Camoranesi and keeper Gianluigi Buffon .

Milan’s cross-town rivals Inter, meanwhile, have reportedly finalised a deal to sell Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins to Newcastle United .

Martins was seen as outward bound ever since Inter signed Hernan Crespo from Chelsea and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Juventus earlier this month .

Those transfers strengthened a pool of forwards that already includes Brazil’s Adriano, Uruguay’s Alvaro Recoba and Argentine international Julio Cruz .

http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-08-25_1254284.html

http://www.ronaldofansite.com/ronaldo

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