Flamengo, five times the Brazilian champions, are reported to be in talks with AC Milan about acquiring the out-of-favour striker, Ronaldo.

Kleber Leite, the Flamengo vice-president, said Milan directors have authorised the Brazilian club to approach Ronaldo, who is in Brazil on vacation and to treat an injury.

“This is not a marketing maneuver,” Leite said in yesterday’s editions of the O Globo newspaper. “It’s a negotiation I’ve been conducting for the past three days, without sensationalism. I’ve talked twice with [Milan official] Leonardo and Ronaldo.”

Leite said both parts appeared interested in a possible deal, but stressed that nothing had been agreed yet.

“These talks were conceptual only,” he said. “We haven’t talked about salaries or transfer fees. We just started to negotiate.”

Leite admitted that Flamengo would not be able to match Ronaldo’s salary in Europe, and said both parts would need “to adjust the difference between both markets”.

Ronaldo, 31, has previously said he wants to play for Flamengo at some time in his career. His contract with Milan ends in June 2008, but injuries have limited his playing time since he signed in January.

José Luiz Runco, the Flamengo doctor, who recently examined Ronaldo, said the player’s recent injuries were not serious enough to hinder a transfer, Leite added.

Leonardo, a former Flamengo player who now works for Milan, confirmed to the local media that he talked to Leite, but said he didn’t expect a deal anytime soon.

Ronaldo, who twice won Fifa’s Player of the Year award, led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup triumph in South Korea and Japan. He was also on the Brazil squad that won the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular club, won seven of their last nine matches this season to finish third in the Brazilian league, earning a spot in next year’s Copa Libertadores, Latin America’s premier club competition.

“It would be an excellent signing,” Joel Santana, the Flamengo coach, told Radio Brasil. “A player of this quality would be a great gift for our fans for the 2008 season.”

The club earlier this month acquired Diego Gavilan, the Paraguay midfield player, a former Newcastle United and Udinese player who was playing for Brazil’s Gremio.

Next season, Flamengo will also be able to field the former Manchester United midfield player, Kleberson, who played alongside Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup.