Ronaldinho sends Milan ticket sales soaring

Ronaldinho's arrival at Milan has led to a huge surge in season ticket sales and hits on the club's official website.

The Brazil forward, who has signed from Barcelona, was formally unveiled to press and fans at a special party at the San Siro last night.

The official website reported that it had received more than 10 times the average daily volume of visitors since news of the 28-year-old's transfer.

On Wednesday, when Ronaldinho arrived in Milan, Rossoneri fans snapped up 5,230 season tickets out of a total of 18,518 sold during the whole of the close-season subscription period.

Supporters were unable to buy season tickets yesterday though after Milan said there was a technical problem.

The club, who finished a disappointing fifth in Serie A last season, did not say if the glitch was because of the high demand.

Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes praised his club's efforts to lure Ronaldinho to the English Premiership.

City had a £25 million bid for Ronaldinho rejected as the Brazilian opted to join Milan for a £19 million fee.

Hughes said: "I think we have shown a willingness to try and bring Ronaldinho here, and we should be complimented for that.

"Irrespective of what clubs do and the money situation, it will be his decision. The power lies with the players now even more so than in days gone by.

"We have presented our case as well as we possibly could and the fact that we are in there trying to get one of the top players in the world shows our ambition and where we want to go."