Sir Bobby’s initial bid was widely reported to have been £3million plus former PSG man Laurent Robert, but the Ligue 1 club are believed to have raised the asking price to £14million in the wake of interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The Journal now claims that for our bid to be accepted we would have to offer Olivier Bernard as well as Robert.
As Bernard is the only left back who is likely to be left at the club by the beginning of next season it remains to be seen if this will interest Sir Bobby.
Would swapping a rapidly improving full back and a frustratingly inconsistent winger for a world class midfielder with a reputation of causing trouble be a good deal for us?
With Manchester United and Real Madrid interested we’re unlikely to find out, but I’m not convinced it would be great business anyway.
I’d love to see Ronaldinho at St James’ Park and he’d undoubtedly become a fans favourite, but whether his maverick approach could produce a ‘Cantona-effect’ for us I don’t know.
Still it would be great to watch.