At his official unveiling as Barcelona coach Guardiola had this to say on the three stars.

“All of the players in the first-team squad last season are of a very high level. But with the technical secretary [Txiki Begiristain] we are forming a squad and Deco, Ronaldinho and Eto’o are not in our minds.”

This final, damning verdict on the trio´s future at the Camp Nou was as crystal clear as it was brief.

For a triumvirate of players that together formed the central, creative hub of one of the most entertaining European sides seen this century, Guardiola´s statement dots the ´i´s and crosses the ´t´s on what represents a remarkable fall from grace. It is one thing to no longer be wanted at a particular club, for whatever reason. Transfers happen all the time. But for these three players to be publicly named and shamed, and more or less held up as symbols of everything that has gone wrong at Barcelona over the last two years is another matter altogether.

At this stage one might jot down some hard stats detailing their various individual and collective achievements while defending the blaugrana of the Catalan giants. In this case I don´t think I need to. Anyone with even the slightest interest in football will be well aware of the magic these three created, along with their teammates. For two years they well and truly ruled Spain. They bewildered opponents. They were electrifying. No-one could get near them.

They played football with a beauty and a carefree joy that provided an enchanting antidote to the climate of suffocate-the-opposition-with-bodies-and-nick-a-draw football that pervaded much of the European psyche. They took on Jose Mourinho, master of the tactical war of attrition and the Frankenstein-like monster created by Abramovich and won, eventually, after some mammoth tussles that made headlines around the world. Together they helped deliver the European Cup to Barcelona, only the second in the club´s history. And they did it all with smiles on their faces, encapsulated in that loveable, buck-tooth grin that became Ronaldinho´s hallmark. I mean for crying out loud, even Real Madrid fans were won over.

These three were at the very epicentre of all that Barcelona achieved. And though of course it is largely irrelevant, it is worth noting that if goal difference were used to separate teams in La Liga, Barça would have won the league for a third year running in 2006/2007 too.

Ultimately, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. However it is the speed of the demise that is most shocking when analysing the trio´s Barcelona careers. In fairness to Samuel Eto´o it is injuries that have most affected him in Barça´s last campaign, and personally I expect him to move to another club and prove himself yet again, if he stays injury free.

But in the cases of Deco and Ronaldinho the picture is more blurred. Deco started just 14 league games in 2007/2008, Ronaldinho just 13. Though the club regularly covered up for them by claiming the pair were injured, by the end of the season those in charge appeared to lose patience with the smokescreens, and no longer seemed to bother with the cover-up. The worst kept secret in Spain was out. Reports that both players often went out partying and seldom made it to training the next day were finally no longer denied, and the rumours became largely accepted as truth. And with Guardiola´s final condemnation it seems the Barcelona hierarchy have now run out of patience with the duo´s antics.

Where now?

Looking to the future, then, and it seems that Deco, at the centre of a transfer tussle between Inter Milan and Chelsea, should have no troubles in finding a new home. Samuel Eto´o remains one of the world´s most feared strikers and major clubs in both Italy and England are reportedly fighting for his signature.

Ronaldinho however, may find it more difficult. One of the most damning and, for those who remain fond of the player, worrying statements from Guardiola´s press conference was the hint that he does not feel the Brazilian superstar remains capable of motivating himself to hit the Everestian heights he once managed.

“If I felt that he wanted to be the player he was again, he would be here,” he stated.

That is some criticism. Thus far, with huge wage demands and Guardiola´s words still echoing in the minds of chairmen everywhere, it is perhaps no surprise that only Manchester City have shown any real interest.

At 30, 28 and 27 years of age respectively, Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto´o are more or less at the peak of their careers. These are not past-it superstars ready for the scrapheap. Nor are they once promising youngsters who sadly failed to fulfil their talent. These are world renowned and on their day quite brilliant footballers who, for whatever reason, took their foot off the pedals and slipped off the track. Now their job is to prove to the world they can get back up. You´ve got to keep on turning. Or down you fall.