Unlike his two rivals for the 2004 World Player of the Year award, Ronaldinho did not help his club win any silverware over the last 12 months.
For Barcelona fans, however, the Brazilian playmaker has achieved something just as important.
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Eighteen months after his arrival, the club are nine points clear at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga, in the last 16 of the Champions League and playing the most exciting club soccer in Europe.
It has been Ronaldinho's vision, passing skills, and dazzling repertoire of party tricks that have been the catalyst for this change.
Almost as important as his performances are his smiling, laid-back attitude to life and infectious enthusiasm which have transformed the atmosphere in the Barcelona squad.
"Ronaldinho isn't just capable of winning games on his own," says club captain Carles Puyol. "He's also of vital importance to us off the pitch - he keeps our spirits high because he is always in a good mood."
Such was the extent of Barcelona's fall from grace before Ronaldinho's arrival that David Beckham shunned the club's advances after deciding to leave Manchester United, preferring arch-rivals Real Madrid.
POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
Influenced in part by the positive experiences of compatriots Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, Ronaldinho decided to head for the Nou Camp.
His decision sparked a surge of confidence among Barcelona fans. Thirty thousand turned out for his presentation after his 25 million euro ($33 million) move from Paris St Germain.
In his league debut at the Nou Camp he lived up to his billing when he scored one of the goals of the season in a 1-1 draw against Sevilla.
Picking the ball up on the halfway line, he sauntered through the Sevilla defence, cut inside towards the area before letting rip with an unstoppable shot from 25 metres.
Mesmerising step-overs, spectacular free kicks, overhead kicks, defence-splitting passes became part and parcel of a typical Ronaldinho contribution to Barcelona's season.
Although his team mates were slow to cotton on, Ronaldinho's enthusiasm eventually rubbed off and he inspired his side to a 17-match unbeaten run that helped lift them to second place in the Primera Liga last season, their best in four years.
PROFOUND REVIVAL
His presence at Barca helped convince players of the calibre of Deco, Henrik Larsson, Samuel Eto'o, Edmilson and Julian Belletti that the Nou Camp was the place to be.
After a slow start to this campaign because of a niggling ankle injury, Ronaldinho has been brilliant.
One of the highlights was his stunning last-gasp winner in a 2-1 Champions League victory over AC Milan last month.
Leaving Alessandro Nesta for dead with a dazzling shimmy, he darted across the edge of he area and hammered the ball into the top corner to send the 90,000 crowd into delirium.
Three weeks later, together with in-form Spanish midfielder Xavi, he masterminded Barca's sparkling display of attacking football when they outclassed Real Madrid's Galacticos 3-0 at the Nou Camp.
Like so many Brazilian internationals Ronaldinho followed the well-trodden route from shanty-town to football pitch.
Born into a family with a strong footballing tradition, Ronaldinho's father Joao, who died when he was eight, was a devoted fan of Porto Alegre side Gremio while elder brother Robert had a successful career at the club.
Ronaldinho first hit the headlines when he top-scored for Brazil in their triumphant campaign in the Under-17 world championship in Egypt in 1997.
The youngster signed a professional contract with Gremio in 1998 and soon earned himself a place in the full national side.
He helped Brazil win the 1999 Copa America, scoring six goals including a stunning individual effort against Venezuela which brought him to the attention of European clubs.
He remained in Brazil for two more years, making the move to Paris St Germain in 2001. He had to wait five months before his debut because of a legal dispute over his transfer fee.
Part of the Brazil squad for the 2002 World Cup, he was instrumental in his side's 2-1 victory over England in the quarter-finals, sending a spectacular 30-metre free kick over the head of goalkeeper David Seaman to score his side's second.
He was sent off seven minutes later for a tackle on Danny Mills. After missing the semi-final against Turkey he returned to play in the 2-0 victory over Germany in the final.
Like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaka he was rested for the 2004 Copa America, missing Brazil's title triumph against Argentina.
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