MILAN, Italy (AP) Ronaldinho was transferred to AC Milan late Tuesday, leaving FC Barcelona after the club's new coach declared the team would plan for next season without the Brazilian playmaker.
The Italian club said late Tuesday Ronaldinho would arrive in Milan on Wednesday to get a medical exam and sign a contract through June 30, 2011.
Barcelona said that AC Milan will pay $33.4 million for Ronaldinho and another $6.3 million if it clinches a place in next season's Champions League.
The transfer amount was considerably less than the $50.7 million Barcelona said Manchester City had offered.
A two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Ronaldinho has been seeking to leave Barcelona since new coach Pep Guardiola said that the star was not needed.
"(If) he can get back to being the player he was, perhaps we could have a rethink," Guardiola said last month. "But circumstances are not what they are. I want a strong dressing room in which everyone feels important. That's vital. If we don't look after these aspects, we'll be less strong. And if Ronnie felt this, he would be with us."
Ronaldinho scored 91 goals in 200 appearances in his five seasons at Camp Nou, and helped lead Barcelona to consecutive Spanish League titles in 2005 and 2006, and the Champions League trophy in 2006.
At Milan, he will join fellow Brazilians Kaka and Alexandre Pato.