Brazilian legend Ronaldinho has determined his next club destination, signing a surprise deal to join Mexican club Querétaro. Querétaro owner Olegario Vazquez Aldir confirmed the news on Twitter on Friday.
As of yet, there is no information on the length of the contract or how much the player will make over the course of the deal. Regardless, the move will likely stand as one of the highest-profile player acquisitions in the history of Mexican soccer.
Ronaldinho’s signing with Querétaro is, to say the least, something of a shock. The 34-year-old World Cup winner played for Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, and A.C. Milan in his prime and experienced something of a late career renaissance at Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro, with which he won the 2013 Copa Libertadores and was subsequently named South American Footballer of the Year for his accomplishments. But then he canceled his contract with the club by mutual consent in July, and has been without a team since.
The 2002 World Cup winner certainly had no shortage of offers, even from teams like non-league Basingstoke Town in England. But now the Brazilian’s career continues in Mexico, with a club that, until recently, was most famous to American soccer fans for poaching Vancouver Whitecaps forward Camilo in completely bizarre circumstances.
The club avoided relegation to the Mexico second division last season only through a complicated series of relocations and ownership swaps among other clubs in the region.
Querétaro’s next match comes on Friday, Sept. 12, as the club hosts Puebla — a club that features recently-capped American defender Michael Orozco, whose job might have just gotten a bit more difficult.
