The vice-president of Flamengo, Marcos Braz, expressed on Thursday the importance of acquiring new talent for the soccer team.
The reason behind the sudden urgency of finding reinforcements is due to the fact that the duo of Vagner Love and Adriano, dubbed as the "Love Empire" is believed to be coming an end.
"They are two athletes who are very hard to hold onto. I never hide this from the fans. We will do all we can to keep them at Flamengo, but we are well aware that their time with the team is short," said Braz.
Adriano's contract expires at the end June. He is not expected to return to Flamengo after his participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Vagner Love's contract extends until July, but Flamengo may be able to keep the athlete through the entirety of the Libertadores Cup if his team is able to advance through to the semifinals and finals.
His Russian team, CSKA, keep this option open in their negotiation with Flamengo.
Recent rumors around the club have pointed to Ronaldinho Gaucho as a possible acquisition. However, Braz denied any such expectation.
"In relation to Ronaldinho Gaucho, there is nothing to declare. We tried to bring him back to Brazil last year, but that is where it stopped. The more I talk about it, the more people are going to believe that something is in the works," added the vice-president.
According to Ronaldinho's brother and agent, Assis, the chance of Flamengo receiving the talented midfielder is two percent. Botafogo made an attempt to receive Ronaldinho off a loan from Milan in 2009. Although the Italian club was interested, the team did not want to give up the player before the 2010 World Cup.