Chelsea have joined the chase for the signature of in-demand Brazilian Ronaldinho, who is also wanted by Manchester United and Real Madrid.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is up for grabs at the right price, and while Chelsea have yet to make an offer, they have spending power now that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has taken over from Ken Bates as owner and the man with control of the purse-strings.
Ronaldinho's agent and brother Roberto Assis, who looks after his sibling's interests, said: "Manchester United are still negotiating with Paris St Germain. There is also some interest from Chelsea, although there hasn't been an official offer put to the club yet."
Ronaldinho is the prime summer target of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who is seeking a suitable replacement for David Beckham, and Assis is expecting the Old Trafford club to make a second offer to PSG after their initial bid was dismissed.
With Beckham now at star-studded Madrid, it is hard to see why the Spanish champions might also require Ronaldinho but they are willing to loan him back to PSG for a year before integrating him in the Bernabeu squad.
They would then engineer space for him in the team, perhaps by off-loading Luis Figo who appears to have reached a plateau in his performances. Madrid looked to be United's only rivals before Assis claimed Chelsea could also be in the running.
Rather than the Stg£9.5million figure which was banded around in early June, PSG now look set to cash in to the tune of over £20m for the player they fought tooth and nail to sign from Gremio.
Reports in Spain suggest Madrid have bid almost £25m, while United's first offer was well beneath that mark. Ronaldinho joined PSG in summer 2001 from his Brazilian club, who had objected to the Parisians signing their star player, as they saw it, on the cheap.
A legal battle ensued which decided the terms of the transfer but the money men at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Bernabeu look the most important players in this deal.