Graille plays down Ronaldinho rumours

Francis Graille, the Paris St-Germain president, believes that Ronaldinho is still coveted by Real Madrid but he has no intention of selling.

The 23-year-old World Cup winner with Brazil, currently on national team duty in the Confederations Cup, has been linked with a move to Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United. Real were thought to be out of the picture after agreeing a £25m deal for the England captain David Beckham - pending a medical on 2 July - but Graille has confirmed he is still in contact with the La Liga leaders.

"We have remained in phone contact with Real Madrid in the past few days," he said. "They [Madrid] have taken information on Ronaldinho. This is normal, great clubs talk to each other, but there was no mention of an actual sale to Real Madrid. We talked about many things, not only about Ronaldinho."

Roberto Assis, Ronaldinho's brother and agent, met yesterday with Barcelona's new vice-president, Sandro Rosell, after Brazil's 1-0 defeat by Cameroon in Paris. Assis hinted Ronaldinho could still move after the Confederations Cup final, adding his final destination will be revealed on 29 June.

Graille, who pledged not to sell Ronaldinho when he took over from Laurent Perpère at the end of the season, is determined to keep him in the French capital.

"I don't know what Roberto Assis means by giving Ronaldinho's club destination on 29 June," he said. "Our position remains unchanged. For us he stays with PSG."

Graille added he was aware Rosell was present at the Stade de France to talk with Assis, but shrugged the meeting off as "normal interest in a World Cup winner".

The club now plan to meet Assis next week to discuss the situation, although Graille insists there is no tension between either party. "I am going to call him today to arrange a meeting for next week," he said. "There is no arm-wrestling between us. At the moment Ronnie's entourage are thinking about the player's interest while we are thinking about the club's interest."

The Birmingham City manager, Steve Bruce, remains determined to bring the midfielder David Dunn on board, but he has ruled out a bid for the striker Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Dunn is set to leave Blackburn if Graeme Souness can get the right price for the former England Under-21 captain.

"I am still very much in the chase and talks are ongoing," Bruce explained. "We tabled a bid for him three weeks ago and it is a little bit of a stalemate, so we need to be patient. There is still a long way left in the transfer window, something like nine weeks. There will be more movement around the start of July."

Bruce says Feyenoord's van Hooijdonk - who played with varying success for Celtic and Nottingham Forest - is not on his wish list. "For me the deal was never on. He is a player we have shown an interest in before and things have been drummed up again," Bruce said.