Barcelona take club legend's 17-year-old son on trial

Barcelona have taken a 17-year-old Brazilian striker by the name of Joao Mendes de Assis Moreira on trial. The youngster’s father is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira.

If that name sounds familiar it is because it is. It is Ronaldinho and Joao Mendes is his son.

Joao is named after Ronaldinho’s late father, who passed away in the late 1980s, and was born in 2005. He has now become a talented footballer and was on the books at Cruzeiro until recently.

SPORT has reported that the teenager terminated his contract with Cruzeiro, the club where Brazil legend Ronaldo made his breakthrough, and is now in Catalonia to see if Barcelona will offer him a contract in the youth ranks.

Barça president Joan Laporta is said to be personally overseeing the possibility of signing Joao by being the one to speak with Ronaldinho, who remains a club ambassador.

Laporta was of course the president who signed Ronaldinho very soon after taking office for his first term at Camp way back in 2003. Before that, the Brazilian World Cup winner had been close to joining Manchester United and was even courted by Newcastle.

Ronaldinho spent only five years at Barcelona but they were the best of his career. The club paid around €30m to sign him from Paris Saint-Germain and were rewarded with 94 goals in 207 appearances, two La Liga titles and the Champions League.

Ronaldinho was also twice named FIFA World Player of the Year during his time at Camp Nou, as well as landing the Ballon d’Or in 2005.