Ronaldinho is willing to lower his salary to play for his native Gremio, but the club's offer still isn't good enough to please AC Milan, a Brazilian website reported Wednesday.
Gremio is among four clubs trying to sign the former two-time FIFA player of the year. Brazilian clubs Flamengo and Palmeiras and English side Blackburn also have made offers to acquire Ronaldinho.
The playmaker said his first choice would be former club Gremio, where he started his career as a youngster in 1998.
"If it was up to me, I would already be wearing Gremio's jersey, even making less money," Ronaldinho was quoted as saying by the GloboEsporte.com site on Wednesday. "The problem is not the offer (the clubs) made me, but it's what Milan is asking for. No one has gotten close."
Milan reportedly wanted nearly ?8 million ($10.6 million) to release Ronaldinho, but could be willing to release the player to avoid having to keep paying his high salary.
Ronaldinho, who had been playing sporadically with the Italian club and had been expressing his desire to return to Brazil, was reportedly authorized to leave the team's training camp and travel to Brazil after New Year's Eve.
His brother and agent, Roberto Assis, has been analyzing the clubs' offers and negotiating with AC Milan for the past few days in Brazil.
He was meeting with Gremio officials on Wednesday to discuss the team's offer again, but Flamengo and Palmeiras directors both said they remained optimistic.
Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is in Brazil and reportedly said the offer from Luiz Felipe Scolari's Palmeiras was the best financially, but Palmeiras representative Roberto Tadeu told ESPN Brasil that in the end it would come down to Ronaldinho's choice.
Blackburn said Tuesday it was attempting to sign Ronaldinho, but manager Steve Kean acknowledged it was unlikely the Brazilian star would pick the Premier League club.
Ronaldinho won consecutive FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2004 and '05 while with Barcelona and led the Spanish club to the Champions League title in 2006. He also helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup, under Scolari.
