HIS smile makes him one of the most recognisable footballing faces on the planet - now Ronaldinho has his eyes on a career swansong in the A-League.

The Brazilian star, who won the World Cup in 2002 and the Champions League with Barcelona in 2006, is due to send his brother Roberto, who acts as his agent, to Australia this month to hold talks with potential suitors in the Australian league.

The Daily Telegraph understands a stint in the A-League is a very realistic prospect for the 36-year-old, who was twice voted FIFA World Player of the Year.

He has lit up exhibition games in recent weeks with his apparently still prodigious levels of skill.

Ronaldinho celebrates scoring one of his many goals for Brazil. Source: AP

Sydney FC are likely to be among those drawn like moths to a flame to a player whose outrageous talents have often been rivalled only by his equally world-class ability to party.

The race is hotting up in the A-League for marquees, especially after the decision by Football Federation Australia to allow a third player to have that status for at least a season as a guest player.

Though Ronaldinho is unlikely to demand the $4 million annual package that Alessandro Del Piero was paid, his would still be a multimillion-dollar contract for whichever club took the plunge.

With Tim Cahill on the verge of finalising a crowd-pleasing move to Melbourne City, the prospect of adding Ronaldinho to next season’s competition would revolutionise perceptions of the A-League, beyond even what Del Piero was able to effect.

Could we see Tim Cahill and Ronaldinho in the A-League? Source: Getty Images

For some months, a Sydney-based agent and Ronaldinho’s brother have been liaising over holding talks with A-League clubs, with discussions intensifying since FFA made clear that it wanted clubs to seek out marquees with box-office appeal - and would help to finance them.

Ronaldinho has been playing across the globe in a succession of exhibition matches, including one at Old Trafford for the benefit of Socceraid in a team coached by Claudio Ranieri, fresh from winning the EPL with Leicester City.

Only this week he played 70 minutes for Peruvian side Cienciano as a guest star, producing a “no-look” 25m pass to set up a goal for teammate Enzo Castillo.

The last competitive club Ronaldinho played for was Fluminense in Brazil in 2015, when he made only seven appearances.

Ronaldinho’s stunning career has seen him for clubs all over the world. Source: AAP

Though concerns are certain to be raised over his likely fitness, sources involved in the exhibition game in Manchester suggested his talent remains in abundance, and that achieving requisite levels of fitness would take a month.

With A-League teams only now returning to full pre-season training, that leaves ample times for him to be ready for the October start of the competition.

While there would be an element of risk of investing such a sum in a player very much in the twilight of his career, FFA officials and club owners are certain to weigh that against the challenge of rejuvenating the A-League after a season of dwindling coverage.

Sydney FC’s last two foreign marquees, Marc Janko and Filip Holosko both struggled to add marketing glamour to the club, though Janko was rather more successful on the field, winning the A-League’s Golden Boot in 2014-15.