Transfer Rumours Ad Infinitum

I don' think there's anything to worry about BUT if they get David Villa also from what I've read then I think we should be very worried. If anything we should be the ones going after Villa! I'm really not too keen on seeing Ibra in a Barca shirt. Get Ribery and Villa and I'd be very happy. I know a lot of you think we should get Silva but I don't know about that. To me he's like a second rate Iniesta plus doesn't he get injured a lot?

Exactly it is very well said in your article that we shud sign players who really want to play for us not just money or against their will. In this context ibra and ribery fit very well. But i am worried txiki is very slow and not closing deals soon. very incompetent.

Do not, and I mean NOT let Toure go. One of our best if not best (Henry and him) signings of 2 years ago. Mascherano is good and would step into barca very well but lets stick with a good thing here.

Out of all the rumours surprisingly the one I think would be the best fit is Robinho. Brazilians and Barca go hand in hand. Plus Robinho wants to prove that he is better than Ronaldo. But he needs to know this is not his team and unless he performs better than messi for atleast 3 years straight, this will never be HIS team but give the boy a chance.

And lastly, and before everybody here starts throwing the spit and venom at me....Madrid will have to get rid of a lot of players next year.... I kno I kno... try and think outside of the box...Robben or Sneijder those are the only two.

lol

let the assault on my ideas begin

well explained of the situation by Nic. Its fine we would sign someone who would like to play for us, but you know when someone use a huge money in transfer market for more than once it becomes very unstable. Just think two of the very famous clubs definitely will try to recover any gap left and as Nic said they have enough money too. In addition i can see Chelsea fans almost can smell the title next season in chance of any weakness for Man U.and they have money so they will spend too.In this situation to hold a player like ribery it nrequires a quick approach rather than wait and see. I think neither ribery's desire to for barcelona nor his less preference to play in england(as he said two days ago) will help in this case to get him when others are quick and also with cash.

Villa looked to be going madrid..though don know yet but i don think barca has a good approach for him.

@Mes_que_un_fan ...hehehe well said in last para...u r brave...and encouraged me to be a bit braver...i think robben is better than sneijder...lol

Though pperez said they will not sell robben untill ribery not confirmed....

I do chat in live transfer rumours forum where i can see the face of madrid fans..... hehe...they could if possible arrange Classico tomorrow...and a Cl match against Liverpool...i can understand wht they are going through....lol

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

A certain logic would dictate that a team who have just become Tri-Champions doesn't require a lot of tinkering with.

For this reason alone, a big effort should be made to hold on to Touré.

As a back-up striker, or substitute for Eto'o if he decides to move on, I'd like to see Barça signing Forlan. In fact, he should have come to Ca'n Barça two years ago when he left Villarreal.

We don't need any big names, and certainly not in mid-field. The signing of "prima donnas" can be left to a certain wanna-be rival!

Florentino is acting like one of those animals who trip over the same stone twice - filling up his team with "cosmic wonders" - who will all run their own way and will pull the dressing-room apart in a very short time! To say nothing of the publicity contracts which will dictate to the coach which players MUST play.

Fine by me ... !

I just don't understand this laid back approach and lack of aggressiveness by Barça regarding signing some quality players needed to stregthen the club .

Perhaps they are waitnig for the the best players to be signed up by other clubs then they will move on to scoop some cheap bargains at the bottom of the barrel .

Several of the players that Barça signed the last two years are NOT even good enough to be reliable subs !!

Perhaps they know something we don't know !!

Barcelona's game is very simple pass and move and hit the open player to draw a mistake on the defence and score all wit simple passing one two touch and 1st touch passing very little you see tricks from players and the 3 players that i think should be sold this season are hleb, gudjohnsen and etoo (and caceres loaned) and the 3 players that best fit their place are ribery his quic good touch and great vision 2nd ibrahimovic he has a great vision of goal great passing and imagination as long as he doesnt come to steal messi spotlight wecshould be fine and finally mascherano great organization passing and touch in defence i think were good wit abidal alves pique marquez puyol militos if he comes back lol but we should try to get lahm and please dont sell bojan pl comment back thanx any comment with respect is welcome

Why do we need Mascherano when we have Toure? Who is better in every aspect.

I am also surprised with the lack of news regarding transfers.

I think we should let go off: Hleb, Gudjhonson and maybe Keita.

I was hoping Barcelona would go hard to pursuit Ribery and I also wouldn't mind Ibra if Eto'o does leave.

Anyone know when the Uefa super cup and Club world cup begins?

What is all the fuss about ! Kaka is one hell of a player but when a player leaves his home he leaves some of the talent there just like Henry left at Arsenal. Either way Milan didn't even win the league this year with Ronladniho, Becham & KAKA in it ! And as for CR7 We kicked his @ss in Rome we will kick it again in the Camp Nou ! Besides a player with that big of an Ego will be a joke with any manager other than Sir Alex. He is the only one who knows how to keep him in line. Mark my words if this player keeps that huge ego of his he will be like da Santos ! The player that never pass the ball ! My Concern is That Eto'o, Valdes , Helb & Yaya Want to leave also Slvinho already left !If we do keep every player I think we are fine !

I dont think its a problem Real getting those players, remember the final of UCL one was already there and we got better of him. No matter who the opponent is Barca has always played better.
But one change I wud really wanna see in place of ETO ( only if he leaves ) would be Forlan rather than ribbery or Villa.

I don't know what you guys are smoking? Forlan, a 30 year old, over Ribery and Villa, both younger and mor skilled?!

Also, suggesting Keita should go is ridiculous, he's not in the starting eleven, but he is brilliant tactically and does a great job covering for other players, and always making space.

Joe_Henry's concerns about players leaving is slightly exaggerated. Sylvinho didn't leave us, we released him and it was an understood term. Victor just wants more money and he'll get a little bit with a longer contract. Hleb should go, and the Yaya hasn't come out with anything negative, only his agent, thus showing it's a ploy by the agent to get more money, which in fact Yaya does deserve tremendously.

Finally, the mentality of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," is a horrible mentality to have.

That's exactly what we did after we won the double in 2006, and it left us without silverware for two years. We always need to be making upgrades, and in my opinion, Ribery, Silva, or even Ibra(hate to say it) would be a healthy addition, especially considering the Afircan Cup of Nations next year.

Besides, Pep said he was going to set the record for number of transfers committed by a team after winning the treble. Which means he isn't content.

In Pep We Trust.

JMoFCB

I think some of you are missing the point about Barça being "més que un club".

Less than a month ago Barça proved beyond doubt that they are the best team in Europe (and, by extension, in the world). Much of the glory of that magnificent achievement stems from the fact that over half the winning team was "home-grown".

Let the English clubs be mere extensions of the Russian Mob, Middle-East oil money or Yank "entertainment corporations". Let RM have their delusional, money-obsessed fantasies. Pérez will learn (yes, again!), that while he may make some money, sportsmanship can't be bought and a collection of "stars", however inflated their market price, is not a team.

It says volumes about Barça's contribution to the sport of football that they can produce the players themselves to perform at the highest level and that much of the investment at the Nou Camp goes into player development.

Of course we have to bring some outside players in to complete the magical mixture, and Henry, Alves and Sylvihno (to name but a few), have given great results, but we shouldn't get hung up on "fantasy football" combinations. After all, this isn't some on-line game, it's the real thing!

Ribery is idiosyncratic, to put it kindly, and with Xavi, Iniesta, Touré, Keita and Busquets, we're doing well enough in the mid-field.

Yes, Villa is a good player, but he's a penalty area animal, a poacher. Forlan is more of a worker and would fit in much better to Barça's style of play. OK, he's no spring chicken, but he has at least a couple of seasons top-class football in him and I think he could contribute a lot.

stop all this noise and crap:

out: hleb, gudjohnsen, jorquera

in: [ashley cole OR riise OR maxwell...let me even add Taiwo!!], ribery, moutinho, henrique,tiago from juventus or maniche (yes i said it), best GK of an under 17 or 20 tournament from the past 3 to 5 years( i don't know of any). i don't want to see ibra. his ego will affect the harmony in the locker room.

loan: caceres, pedro....may be victor sanchez...not BOJAN. team needs some level of maturity. let us learn from Arsenal's mistake of over believing the youth are the football of tommorow. Pique, Bojan and Busquets is enough.

keep:everyone else especially big yaya and eto'o. they fit perfect into the playing system. my new replacements can cover when our 3 Africans are honoring their heritage in the CAN 2010. i was satisfied with Víctor Vázquez and Xavi Torres. they looked promising. with coaching from veterans they will blossom.

that all from Ozone.
peace out.

damn. Real Madrid is going crazy. spending over 150 million for soccer talent. any way, the jersey sales will quickly fill the pot...

I don't know people leaving the club now seems prefect or at least a raise. Sylvinho should end his career now. He won't have more glorious season than this and he is 34 if I remember correctly. These players already won everything. They need motivation. Even if they did stay we need them to be alive. I don't fear Madrid's New Players as I said before I fear there motivation to win again. Start to Consider the fact that these current Barca Players have won everything including a huge win over Madrid. Messi will best player this year. I guess my question isn't rather if they can pull off again the next season but rather do they want to ? these players have proven that under any condition they are the best. May I remind you that the odds where not with us when we faced Madrid ( 6 - 2 ) and the the CL final ! Everyone said we where going to lose both games . One because Madrid thought they where better and the other because of all the Red Cards and all the injures. That said, Barca can bean everything including the odds. But can we beat our own Motivation to put that show one more time ?

one correction.

ribery or silva from valencia. i'll go for silva. he looks like someone who will give his all at times. we want players with hustla attitude.
Ozone.
peace out.

I want our players they way they where last season. I don't want anyone new. I want the same players with the same motivation to win nothing more nothing less !

i just want to say that eto'o has to get more attention .. don't leave him ..he gave a lot for barca .and its really a shame to kick him out of the team in such a way ..ibra is a great player i agree but can he contribute as eto'o used to do??? its not just about player's name or skills ..football is a teamworking game and u can't rely on one player ...and i don't know whats pep's opinion about Busquets !! i dont know how can he rely on him in big matches ...he is still young and doesnt have a lot of skills , moreover, he keeps running with the ball with no real sight for other players ...and finally ..does anyone know anything about bofon ??? i heard that barca showed an interest in his survices like a month ago ...and try to get rebiry he is a hell of a player ...thanks

Mes que un club is about the community which is established within the nation of Barcelona and Catalunya. And while I'm not saying we go on a rampant shopping spree like Madrid, I think a perfect example of why we can't stay content exists in what happened in 06/07 and 07/08.

Our players are brilliant, but we are playing many more matches, and with eto'o(who we MUST keep),yaya, and keita all leaving for african cup, I don't want to rely on just Busquets, Henry, and Bojan to fill those positions.

At least it looks like Filipe Luis and Bruno Alves are sure to come first. Reinforcing the D will ensure that Caceres can go on loan if Pep so pleases. Plus That frees up Alves from having to play every match.

I also think we need someone who can fill in for Xavi. He works amazingly well throughout the year, but a man needs a rest sometimes haha

Well it looks like two of the best 4 players in the world are at our main rivals (Kaka and Ronaldo).. lucky for Barca they have the other two (Messi and Iniesta!)

Seriously though, dont panick, Im sure Pep has sat down with the staff and knows who he wants. I think Ribery will be too much as United will want him to replace Ronaldo so there is no point playing an inflated price for him.

To be honest, I could be happy with the squad we have, as Iniesta covers for Henry, Henry for Eto, and Bojan for Henry. Midfeild we have enough. Defense aswell. However, the African Cup of Nations is a bag of sht and will mess Barca up a little. With Eto gone, we will NEED either a striker to play with Messi and Henry up front OR put Iniesta up front and then we need a midfeilder. Either way I think Barca have to sign someone.

*Villa could be a good option, however he is physically weak and doesnt have Eto's work rate and also Madrid will probably buy him.

*Silva is a good option, he can drop to midfeild and play as a winger and is still very young, also he is left footed so could play either wing.

*Ageuro is another name touted, he isnt a good winger but is a very good striker if Eto leaves, he links up play well and in all likelyhood will leave Athletico this season to Chelsea, Man City or perhaps us.

*Zlatan I dislike Im sorry. He is arrogant, small minded, a poor team player, and imo overated. His performances when it matters is inconsistent at best and the way he played against Man United told me all I need to know about him.

*Benzema is a future world class player and could thrive on the service given to him. French team mates with TH14, could ease his way into the team and give us the extra spark when Sammy leaves as he is an out and out striker.

To be honest it could be anyone or someone we all havent considered. Hopefully Barca will NOT panick, pay reasonable, and be ready to conquer the world again

Someone said today "Real madrid buys former world player of the world award winners but we, at barcelona. create world player of the year players"...this is the best quote I have read so far ( translation is close enough!!). They will problably trouble small teams in the league but they will not beat Barcelona next year and I would bet everything I own on it. As a matter of fact, I am going to book my flight right now for the game at the NOU in December because I have to see this with my own eyes.
I am saying this because this is turning out to be the biggest joke ever told. It is a flawed business model because at best you will break even. When Florentino Perez left Madrid the last time he was president, the team only had $ 4 Million in the bank. Every single penny you take in from merchandising, ticket sales and promotional events will be used to service the enormous debt you' ve created by spending these huge amounts for these players. It is a fact the unfamous Calderon left $96 million and they have already blown way past it with just Kaka and CR9...to that you can add another 40 for Villa (yes, he will play for Madrid and I am glad because I didn't want him at Barcelona)...they need another midfielder and 2 defenders. They will maybe get 35 to 40 from their own sales but that still leaves them upside down by a few millions. Imagine the team craps out, then merchandising revenue goes down, ticket sales go down but they will still be stuck with the enormous salaries of the following players:
1-Raul
2-Cassillas (nice salary for a keeper)
3-Guti
4-Robben
5-Van Nistleroy
6-Sneider
7-Kaka
8-CR9
9-Villa
10-Sergio Ramos

not to mention Huntelar. Look, this just doesn't make much sense from a business perspective. The idea being to buy low and sell high. manchester United knows this very well and I think they just played their hand beautifully and the "locos" in Chamartin obliged.

We will do business our on way the best way.Invest in the youth system.
There is no warry about Madrid.They could sign big name spend a lot of money and still sack.Moreover they might just break even with the jersy sales but if they wont reach semi finals in CL they will get in to a bigger debt and their youth system will sufer even more.Very good Perez Keep spending.

For Mates that dont whant to see Ibra.
Trust our coach. He is a psychologyst.I understand my mate's concern over Ibra.I think coach will make him run,(like he made messi, remmeber messi didnt help at the back before nor did Eto'o),he has a great desire to win CL and has a great hunger for success and that is what we need in our players is motivation if we what to defend our crown successfuly.
Ibra is a great addition to us:
Tall and good in the air, possess good ball and passing skills,(doent pass much in Inter bec there is no one to pass to, unlike at Barca), he shoots the ball good from the distance which could be very helpful against EPL teams that tend to park a bus in front of the goal.Buss breaker.
We definatly need CB maybe Bruno Alves (Porto),Ribery someone to cover Xavi and LB.
Out Hleb, Gudi, Eto'o.
Toure should be kept and recognazed.
Eto'o could leave with his head held up high.Thanks for your serves you did a lot for the club nothing against you it's just busines.You will be remmembered as one of our best.Good luck to you where ever you go.

Real Madrid can buy the next Pele for all I care. Like someone said, a collection of stars doesn't make a great team. A united team of very good players is far superior than a group of superstars with over inflated egos (Kaka and Casillas seem pretty reasonable though among the rest of the Galacticos - II). On the other hand, one of the best attributes of Barca's history making side of 2008-09 is the contribution of its youth system products.That is something you can't buy and which Real will hopefully realise next season.

Besides there are downsides to all the hype and free spending being carried out by Real Madrid.
The expectations from Galacticos - II will be immense such as trying to match Barca's 2008-09 season and even outdoing their achievements which will not be easy.Moreover there could be to be some friction between the existing superstars (Robben,Van Nistelrooy) and the new arrivals especially CR7.

So let Madrid grab all the attention as far as the transfer season is concerned. Hopefully Barca will resume service as usual once the actual football season kicks off in August.

@ omerpk ,

" Moreover there could be to be some friction between the existing superstars (Robben,Van Nistelrooy) and the new arrivals especially CR7 . "

I totally agree . Besides if both Schneijder and Robben remained with the club I doubt if Ronaldo would get too many assists .

Not that the Dutch duo are assist-masters , far from it . They are both talented but very SELFISH players and I doubt if they would let Ronaldo get all the glory . He will have to work his ass off .

I wonder if Raul would give up his number 7 jersey to Ronaldo . Very unlikely .

I see trouble in paradise !!

Stay tuned !!

barca only need to strengthen their defence and have been linked with bruno alves a centre back who plays with porto..also philip lahm of bayern munchen who is a talented right footed left back equally adept at attacking as defending

@FCBHOLLAND

Mate, Raul will die clutching that 7 jersey in one hand and a Spanish flag in the other...while wondering how HE, the man of 300 league goals and 44 international goals, managed to miss out on a European Nations' title!!! It is a sad ending if you ask me but it just goes to show what a big ego gets you. Besides, the fact that he had serious dip in form, It has been reported that he had a heated exchange with Spain's former national coach after a defeat with the national team. He was team captain at the time and he went out with some of he boys to have a drink after the defeat and when confronted by the coach he apparently was not too "captainly"...in the way he reacted. So he was dropped from the national team from thereon.

@Diatus:
Yeah Madrid is a joke of a business model. If anything this helps Manchester and Milan more than it helps Madrid.

And that quote about Barcelona creating world class players is excellent.

@everyone:
I hope eveyone realizes how important the home-grown players in the squad are. To win a treble in the modern age with 7 players out of the youth academy in the starting line-up is absolutely amazing. For me, it has nothing to do with Catalan nationalism or what not, but with the quote above: Barca creates world class players. FCB is a service to football as a whole, and i hope the transfer market is a reflection of this.

I dont want any big names, lets pick a few slots where we could use some youth depth and maybe try to create another Ronaldinho. Lets try to incorporate Henrique, Caceres, Bojan, and Pedro into the squad. All this talk of another forward when we have Eto'o Henry and Bojan is absurd. Of course if Eto'o leaves then make adjustments, but i think that would be the worst thing for the team, well maybe Toure leaving.

Players I wouldnt mind in: Benayoun (i think he would slot in perfectly), Hleb (i think he will come good, but would sell if the offer is good, i.e. break even or a little under), Villa or Silva (if there cheap), Bruno Alves, Cesc, Van Persie, Tevez (not for the amount of money that would be likely), Van der Vaart (ex-RM so gotta be carefull). Still,I would rather spend the money within the youth system or on some 18 year old brazilian or argie.

Players i dont want: Ibra, Vidic, Ashely Cole(i cant believe someone mentioned that piece of trash), Adebayor (please God nooo!), Maicon, Luca Toni (no disrespect but I personally dont feel the style will suit), Ribery (im borderline with him, but with ManU, he'll be expensive)

Oh, and no Robinho, Zhirkov maybe, and absolutely not Mascherano. That guy is a hack. I wish Arsenal was in ultra debt like United, i would love to take Clichy or Arshavin for something reasonable.

Benayoun has no business playing for a team of Barcelona status.

Do y'all think we can rely on Henry this season?

We need to replace him with Ribery, Barca need to stop being cheap and buy 1 world class forward.

If anyone brings up Bojan, you're delusional he simply is not ready.

The biggest joy would be to defend the champions league and celebrate in the Bernabau.

Greg those players you mentioned are very mediocre and don't have what it takes to play for a club like Barcelona.

You guys are seriously underestimating Ibra, he has played a huge role in Inter winning serie A title these past 2 seasons.

if Eto'o does leave then he would be perfect.

Some clowns here are really getting me annoyed. The truth is we just need a good left back and a proper out and out striker....some1 who can cover for Eto. Hleb does not need to be sold....i have a strange feeling we should only sell him by January...give him a few more starts....he was a hell of a player and i still think that if we stop behaving so impatient he will come good. Barsa won the treble last year...and now what?? You guys want more??? What else could you win?? EPL?? Common people. we just need a cover for Eto...and a quality left back...thats all. We should try keeping most of our players...besides Abidal who has a serious problem when it comes to simple defending in my oppinion. Also to note...that i love Eto alot however i kindda felt that he has quite a nick of causing disharmony in the dressing room at times.....there has been just too much speculations about where and which team he is going to be with and most of this speculations have been caused by him himself with his outspoken nature. I recall last season coincidentally we had a bad patch at the same time when Eto was speaking about his future at the club openly. I hope we keep him but just not agreeing with the fact that we should give him what he wants so easily....as i feel that Eto tends to perform particularly well when he is unhappy.....and he is the type that tends to get abit complacent when he is being overglorified.

Shaking my head at the above post, by your way of thinking now that Barcelona have won the treble we should not be competitive anymore?

Henry is past his best he delivered this season no doubt but do you think he can improve with his age?

There is also the small matter of the African Cup where some of our important players will participate.

Who's going to cover for Eto'o Toure and Keita?
What if one of our star players gets injured?

All the above has to be considered.

Barcelona should not make the same mistakes as in the 06/07 season after winning the League and Champion league.

They need to improve the squad.

What I mean regarding Henry is does anyone think he can maintain the same levels of last season?

I for one highly doubt it and Hleb is not Barcelona standards he is not good cover for Henry.

@ Diatus ,

" So he (Raul) was dropped from the national team from thereon. "

Right on the money , man . Spain never won anything to speak of until Raul was dropped .

As a consequence Spain won Euro 2008 and are the number one national team in the world ( followed by Holland ) !!

It took courage to give Raul the boot from the national team but the question is : would anybody at Real Madrid dare to tell Raul to step aside ?

@ Chris, yes we did win the treble and we had the best team in the world. but we still need to get more players. a left back and a striker isnt enough. last year real madrid didnt have that good of a team, their team will be much much stronger next year. this is why we need more depth. last year, none of our key players had very serious injuries that kept them out for a long time (3 weeks isnt long). what if xavi, iniesta, messi get injured for 3-7 months? or even worse? i dont care how good people are saying hleb is, he just cant cover for henry, messi, iniesta, or xavi. we are lucky that we had a healthy squad for the most part this season. i keep asking this question, and i want someone to give me a good answer....who will cover for henry if he gets injured for a long time? a.) iniesta is an answer but he is more effective in the midfield. b.) bojan...isnt he too young still? c.) hleb...yes, as some people mentioned, he does have potential, but what if he fails to live up to his potential while henry is injured?? serious problem.

if you remember last season, we had so many games and it was clear that our key players were getting tired. remember some games guardiola tried to rest messi but whenever we fall behind or cannot find a way to win, guardiola is forced to put messi in the game (the game against racing is a good example, messi came on and scored the winning goal). this cannot happen next year, key players need rest and it would be great to have silva or ribery. again, everyone needs to be thankful our key players stayed healthy last season, i hope that happens again next season, but we cannot take any risks. its a long season and real madrid is angry, jealous, and they wont be like last year.

i strongly believe if some more depth is not mantained buy adding some player this treble winning team will struggle even to keep their one trophy. We have won treble last season but we have to admit we din suffer much through injury of our key players which u cant garuntee. Other than this in a overall, our team depth is not good enough to be honest.There is hardly any good cover for messi,xavi,messi for the reason messi and xavi had to play almost full season which is never good for key game specifically when cup,league and CL all get schedualed same time.And moreovr some players like goodjonson and hleb are just not well enough and keita most of the time is not upto the mark. If squad depth not increased we will suffer no doubt about that.

@ Chris "Some clowns here are really getting me annoyed" why dont you take chealing pill and relax also would not be bad if you whash your mouth as well.No body disrespests no body in our Barca family site thats one...

Secondly I agree with you regarding Eto'o's distruction in the dressing room.He and roonie cost us a league two seasons ago with their dispute over who is better. Eto'o has a big ego, two seasons ago he refused to enter into the game as a sub and it cost Rijkaard the job.Pep did not whant him in the squad bec of the disharmony he brings and I personaly agree with Pep.Eto'o should have won the Piccini award easily with all the players around supplying him with quality chances.Floran (32)and Villa (2 goals each did not have as much supply quality as Eto'o had ,not even close.Last season he scored 26 goals and nobody even bid for him(his salary was 5m euro)bec of his ego and disharmony he brings into the team ,thinking he is the best.However after winning the trebel some say he is the best striker WHY? He is surounded with world top players that unselfish and team players. He started to run bec he whanted to proove himself to Pep and get a better contract to earn more money .(Why he should get payed more than Messy? It will only distroy the team).He is a distruction(wright now with the salary dispute) and should go Ibra will be a better choise for us.Thanks for the services and he will get in our history book as one who helped to win the trebel.

Villa 28 goals...

Barca forever

I am going to predict that Barça will NOT sign any big name or world classs player this summer .

I doubt if we see the likes of Ribery , Villa , Ibrahimovic ( not a fan) , Benzema , Silva , Lahm , Vidic ( not a fan) or Ashley Cole( not a fan of this asshole at all ) in a Barça jersey anytime in the near future .

There is something about the way Trixi and Laporta are handling transfers ( in and out ) that borders on INCOMPETENCE .

We buy high and sell low and often get beaten by other clubs to some of our main target players !!

Let's hope they both prove us all wrong this time , for a change !!

FCB-Holland

mate would love to know what you would do differently? who would you sign that wouldn't border on "incompetence"?

@ aussie_barca ,

I would like us to be more agressive in the transfer market instead ot this tiresome " wait and see " attitude .

We seem to be having more trouble concentrating on trying to keep our own players ( Toure , Eto'o , Valdes ) .

We tend to aim high then settle for signing mediocre crap ( Gudjonsen , Caceres , Hleb , Abidal ) .

The trend is so obvious that we enter negotioations with a player in order to sign him only for the negotioation to break down .

We are either cheap , incompetent or just don't have the money to pay for top class players .

We need to stregthen our squad because every other club will be aiming to knock us down .

It is going to be a long and hard season and we could lose some players to injuries .
We were lucky to be almost injury free this season with the exception of Iniesta who was out for sometime .

We have major weaknesses that need to be addressed : leftback , leftwing and possibly a goalkeeper ( backup or starter ) .

We are going to lose some key players to The African Nations Cup ; Toure , Eto'o ( if he is signed ) and Keita .

So all I'm saying is for us to be more purposeful and aggressive in the transfer market and NOT let our opponents in Spain and Europe get the best available players and we end up with cheap , useless crap .

Since you have asked I would like us to sign :
1- Ribery / Silva .
2- Lahm / Zhirkov .
3- Villa / Benzema .

Do I think that we will be able to sign any of those players ? Very unlikely .

So what do you think we should do or sign ?

i don feel anyone coming to barca...money is ofcourse the most important ting to clubs as well as to players. In current transfer market it simply useless which player prefers which club.i don thnk tixki & laporta is fast enough to have pace with this.(if they r not engage in silent negotiation rightno which is impossible)i hope they understand more than what we understand about the problems pointed out we can face next season with small squad with some unuseful players.

Anyone know how much money does Barcelona receive for winning the champions league and La Liga?

How does Madrid manage to afford all these superstars?

They only brought Huntellar from Axax for 30 million in January and now they also got Kaka and C Ronaldo not to mention all the other world class players they still looking to buy (Villa, Maicon etc)

@ The-Evil-That-Men-Do ,

Real Madrid are reportedly 510 million Euros in DEBT .
If you add their latest two signings ; Kaka and Ronaldo (150 million ) will make their total debt 650 million Euros .

So how can Madrid afford to spend any money at all let alone huge amounts as they just have done is beyond comprehension .

By the way , Madrid are NOT finished with their spending spree yet . Reportedly Villa and Xabi Alonso , among others , are also on their way .

Madrid " mouthpieces " claim that they will end up making profit after all their signings , supposedly on shirt sales and other nonesensical crap .

What kind of VOODOO ECONOMICS is this ?!

i really want zhirkov now ...he impressed me a lot in euro vup and now hes out there saying barca have been my team for many years and it would be my dream to blay for barca(something to that effect)

and fcb holland i agree with you on us being cheap ...we need to strengthen our team cuz our rivals certainly are even if we did win the treble we cant just say that our whole lives we have to win and for that we need more quality players

I agree with FCB-Holland`s realistic attitude.

This is the time to act not to talk, and for me, personally, it`s already somehow too late because I felt Villa could be the right choice (he is a Spaniard, declined joining RM before etc.). I also think of Sesc, first of all, because he is Catalan.

In short, in my opinion, Barca does not need flashy names - it needs real master players who are fully committed.

We all like Barca for what it is, but something bad is going on out there, so for the sake of so many people - it must strengthen itself.

And please do not count on the Galacticos being "Galacticos"... They achieved a lot in the beginning.

I wonder what the Catalan supporters are thinking - unfortunately, I don`t know the language.

@ messiah10 ,

Good point about Zhirkov .

Check this out .

LINK

Barca no need to be panic as madrid...madrid is a club always think money is everything-they think money can buy titles... yeah..i have very great trust on pep. why, because last season i was shocked when he decided to offload our 2 key players in one time but in the end we win TREBLE!!-again i was shocked and happy. we barca fans have a new 'alex ferguson' in barcelona. that means he will make decisions based on long term everything are in his head..and you know what, we are not an instant superstar team-like rmadrid. we build superstar but rmadrid buy and buy and will always buy superstar because they don't have trust on their youth academy. Just remain calm..i think Pep know what to do.

@kimi_10 well...its not about madrid only...and its not about we have to move for buying because madrid dominating in transfer market. this is about finding weakness of ur team and recover it.

Even if u loose two classico it never mean u will loose the league u have to think of 38 games not 2.and ofcourse many more with there in european contest.That has been discussed so far and so many weakness of our team has been pointed out. You have to admit its a long way journey,journey of a season ...u have to decide now and once u start u can not think it twice.

I agree with Kimi, everybody has to stay cool. Madrid is running the market mad, and I far prefer we follow our own way of doing, and so for now it means wait cos' nobody will take any engagement with us in case Madrid came knocking with millions and millions.
FCB holland, you're very difficult to please. Last year, Txiki brought us Alves and Piqué (huge success), Keita (good team player, should still get better next year), Caceres (good prospect) and Hleb. Only Hleb has really failed to deliver, so that's one on five, and his cause is not lost. The previous year we had Henry and Toure (and what a buy Toure has been!!!) and Milito who has been unlucky, so all in all it's a pretty good result. I agree some signings over the years have been truly horrible (Guddy springs to mind alongside Thuram) but hey, that happens in EVERY club, so don't be so quick to condemn Txiki.

I agree with FCB-Holland`s realistic attitude.

This is the time to act not to talk, and for me, personally, it`s already somehow too late because I felt Villa could be the right choice (he is a Spaniard, declined joining RM before etc.). I also think of Sesc, first of all, because he is Catalan.

In short, in my opinion, Barca does not need flashy names - it needs real master players who are fully committed.

We all like Barca for what it is, but something bad is going on out there, so for the sake of so many people - it must strengthen itself.

And please do not count on the Galacticos being "Galacticos"... They achieved a lot in the beginning.

I wonder what the Catalan supporters are thinking - unfortunately, I don`t know the language.

@FCB Holland,

I can understand your worries but pls lets step back for a minute and look at the situation; first of all the transfer market hasnt even opened yet. The only reason RM have bought their players so quickly is because their negotiations have been going on for weeks behind the scenes while we were concentrating on making history. Perez promised Kaka and Ronaldo months ago and be sure he has been working on it ever since.

We are not RM or Chelsea or City. We are not one of the those clubs that overspends on players. We make smart, economically viable buys. That doesnt mean we dont spend, we spent 30m on a right back last year, but he was worth every penny. Now we do have a slight problem because RM have essentially destroyed the market. Every team now who has big players to sell wants stupid amounts of money. 50 million for Villa, 60 million for Ribery, 80 million for Ibra. I wouldnt pay those amounts for any of those players. So maybe we have to wait a bit for the market to cool down, for these clubs to realise they cannot demand transfer fees like this. We have to wait for RM to finish their spending spree because they can and will outbid us for everyone. What they are doing now is not smart, it is greedy. They are plunging themselves into hundreds and hundreds of millions worth of debt. Debt that will take them maybe a decade to pay off. So let them spend, let them get all the players they want cos they will get them anyways. If they want Ribery they will have to pay 60 mil for him. I dont think he is worth anywhere near that amount, 40 is a stretch. We would never pay that amount but they would, so entering into negotiations now is almost a waste of time. We have to wait a few more weeks for them to finish their little shopping spree. Let them get all the players they want, we will still be better. I love that they are spending all this money, it takes all the pressure away from us next year and puts it right on their heads

Regardless of all of that though we need to strengthen. It is abosultely vital. We need a big front man, we need a left back, a left winger and another midfield player who can fill in for Xavi. My ideal buys would be Ibra, Ribery, Hernanes and Zhirkov. Now, realistically we are not going to get all those players. I think for us the most important player is Ibra. I dont actually like him so much, I always thought he was a little overrated. He is not the same kind of explosive, exciting striker that Eto or Villa are, but he brings something that we need desperately and that is the bus breaker. Next year every team will park the bus, and any team who doesnt is foolish. Chelsea proved it this year, the only chance any team has of stopping us is a big fat bus in front of goal. Utd didnt listen and they got punished. Byern and Lyon got steamrolled. This wont happen again this year. Every team will park it, it should be expected. We need a plan B more than anything, we need a player like Ibra. I say Ibra because he is the best at what he does. He would score as many goals if not more goals than Eto'o. As much as i love Eto'o he could have had 50 goals this year if he didnt miss so many chances and if his touch wasnt so crap. Ibra is far more clinical, his touch is much better and he is unreal in the air. He is strong and can hold up the ball much better than Eto'o. He doesnt have the pace that Eto'o does but between Messi and Henry (and i hope Ribery) we will have bundles of pace. We need something else and he is that something else.

The rest of the players would be nice, but not crucial. Ribery would be amazing but we dont really need him. Silva would do just fine and he would cost half as much. We have to wait and see what Madrid do, they are looking at both as well so I think whoever they end up getting we will get the other.

Hernanes and Zhirkov i think are more likely. They should both be reasonably priced and if they aren't well there are plenty of adequate replacements on the market. Lets all remember we are not rebuilding an entire team like RM are. We already have the best team in the world all we need to do is strengthen in a few areas and give ourselves a plan B option. 4-5 buys for less than 100m and we are the best team by miles.

Now lets wait and see who Madrid get next. I have a feeling Villa is next. I dont think if they get Villa they will be able to get Ribery. At some point they will still have to buy some defenders as well and after Villa they will have spent 200m already. I think they will probably go for Silva which would leave the door open for us to approach Ribery.....if not then we can certainly get Silva and he would be very capable of filling the left wing role. He might even be better because he has played with most of our players before, he speaks the language and he has proven himself in Spain. Ribery is a bit more risky, especially at his current asking price.

@Hilal,

Be careful what you wish for my friend!!! Ibra for Eto'o would be a mistake. I honestly do not think that he measures up to Samuel. Eto'o is an easy target to pick on but I think that he was fantastic this season and looking in my crystal ball, I can tell you that he will be here next year and he will score 35 goals. But unfortunately, next summer, we will be right here talking about trading him YET AGAIN!!!
He has paid his dues ... and being the fighter that he is, I know he will just have t continue proving everyone wrong until the end of his career then and only then will Barcelona see how irreplaceable he really is.

@ Hilal ,

You make several excellent points .

Barça's common sense approach maybe admirable and the right thing to do but this is the real world .

Other clubs don't play by the same rules . Transfer market is more like a dog-eat-dog and a cut-throat business . We have to be able to compete with the big boys and even push our weight around .

I would be very happy if we can keep Eto'o and add Zhirkov , Asenjo and Ribery / Silva .

I also agree with you about Ibrahimovic . He is NOT my favourite CF but as you said he could be the answer to those who WILL park the bus against us next season .
Although I like Villa , I don't know if he can be effective at all against EPL sides with their big , tall , strong brutes at CF's .

Unlike many Barça fans on this site I am NOT convinced that either Abidal or Valdes have a divine right to their positions as LB and a goalkeeper respectively .

We should NOT be content with signing second rate players to be their cover ups BUT rather go after " quality " players who would seriously challenge them for the starting job ( ie. Zhirkov and Asenjo ) .

No player on this club should be expecting a starting position for granted with the exception of our KEY IRREPLACEABLES : Messi , Iniesta , Xavi , Alves , Toure and Eto'o if he stays with the club !!

@Diatus,

Sorry but i disagree. Eto'o is a fantastic striker, but he will never have the physical attributes or technical ability that Ibra has. They are two completely different players, each have their own values. When you look at them as individuals I, like you, prefer Eto'o. He is electric, he is like a hungry Lion on the pitch and I love him. However when you look at both of these players in the context of what WE need next season then Ibra takes it hands down. As far as bus breakers go he is the best. We dont need a pacy, electric forward because we have so many players that already do that but we have nobody who can do what Ibra does. We have to think about what is best for the team moving forward. Every manager in the world will have seen what happens when teams try to play us, it doesnt matter who they are. Next year everybody will park the bus, and I mean EVERYBODY. If we do not have an effective bus breaker we will struggle. Its very simple really and Pep knows it which is why he is so desperate to get Ibra. If you dont agree with me then fair enough, but you should be happy with anything that Pep does after the season he just had. If he wants Ibra then give him Ibra.

@FCB-Holland:

I agree that its a dog eat dog world and teams have to be aggressive in the transfer market, however that has to be within limits. Should we pay 40m to get Ribery? Yes we should, but at the moment he wont cost 40m he will cost 60m and that is not something a clever team would pay for a player who has yet to prove himself at a truly great team or in one of the top leagues. Thats one big ass gamble!! So we have to be reasonably sensible. Inter today want 95m for Ibra, I wouldnt pay a penny over 50. Im not saying we shouldnt make strong bids and I am sure that we are because we are in a very strong position, but we are not fools like Madrid. What they are doing now is idiotic and it will bite them in the ass. Even Chelsea and City are being smarter.

"Although I like Villa , I don't know if he can be effective at all against EPL sides with their big , tall , strong brutes at CF's . "

Sorry , I meant CB's NOT CF's !!

@Hilal,

When did Ibrahimovic become the 'world renowned parked bus specialist'?

Which type of player is better equipped to overcome a team that 'parks the bus'? one with good skill on the ball? one with electricity? one with speed? or one with strenght?

Your logic leaves me a bit perplexed Hilal. In other words, you've singlehandedly decided that where Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Henry's skills on the ball might not work, Ibrahimovic's will ...you are joking right?

No one on the face of this Earth can honestly argue which type of player is better for a team that "parks the bus". One can speak of a preference, which everyone is entitled to but to vociferously announce that IBRAHIMOVIC IS WHAT BARCELONA NEEDS and not Eto'o is simply misguided.

Indeed,your argument that Ibrahimovic is better against teams that "park the bus" omits several crucial details that need to be addressed. The argument that his ability to skillfully handle the ball,ALONE, is enough to overcome the opponent is simply not enough. This description, taken by itself, does not provide proof, nor evidentiary weight to support ANYTHING you are saying.

Every team is different and every game is different. There are different matchups and you are assuming that no team in the league or the CL will come out to play against us. An assumption which could be valid but which does not give you the right to leap from an hypothesis to a conclusion based on a 1000 other assumptions.

Assumption 1: No team will come out to play
Assumption 2: If you don't come out to play they will be able to match us player for player
Assumption3:If they are able to match us player for player, our skillful players like Messi, Xavi,Iniesta, etc,etc...will not be skillful enough to do what Ibrahimovic is capable of doing against defenses.
Assumption 4: Even if our skillfull players are capable of overcoming the defense through skills of their own, they will still need IBRAHIMOVIC to complete the tasks.

Assumption 5: Eto'o has not been very successful against "parked buses"
Assumption 6: Every team in Spain and Europe does not deserve our respect because they will, for most of the time, come out to defend against us
Assumption 7:,....look, I could go on and on and on.

Hilal, I disagree with your logic. My defense of Eto'o and my desire to see him continue with the team is based on solid references that he delineated for all of us to value as we see fit. My defense of Eto'o is based on the simple fact that he has done his job well ever since he put on that Blaugrana shirt and I see no reason why this will change now. My support of Eto'o is based on the fact that loyalty should still matter in this world, especially to those who have given everything to the club. I would be more inclined to entertain the idea of a replacement if age or injury were the reason. But at this point I see no reason for a professional separation. It would be a mistake to give a proven clutch player for one who has not proven much to ANYONE in EUROPE or around the WORLD. Barcelona doesn't need Ibrahimovic, but Barcelona needs Eto'o because he is the personnification of "HEART" and he leaves his on the field everytime out.

As much as I enjoy reading your posts, this is one with which we shall remain on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The truth about IBRAHIMOVIC is that no one knows what type of IBRAHIMOVIC we will get and that to me is enough to want to remain conservative and keep what I have in hand.

is barcelona crazy or what? why are they confuesed between selling eto'o and keeping him. he has deilvered for them for all these seasons. the most consistent striker over the past seasons. even with his past injury he still has 130 goals in about 200 barca matches. i even heard that he is among the top 3 strikers in the club's history. is this stupidity by the technical staff or what? he just won the treble and instead of doing something motivating, you instead reduce his profits. he may not sell jerseys like messi or henry but he brings the goals and the points. forget the economic crisis, give hime a small increase but not an exorbitant amount. that will be fine. the funny thing is they want to overprofit from him if they sell him. and all this yaya talk shiuld stop. if his pay is less than busquet's salary, it is very unfair. just buy the following:
ZHIRKOV, CAPDEVILA or RIISE, MOUTINHO,{SILVA???}.
sell hleb, guddy and loan out caceres. after all henrique is coming.
the club better act fast before the best meat on the market is eaten by the powerful and swift dogs.

We may have to agree to disagree on this one Diatus. That being said I think you might have misunderstood me a little. I didnt mean to imply that the likes of Henry, Messi, Iniest, etc are not capable of breaking the bus, because they are and they have. What I am saying is that we need an option B; a striker who is tall, strong, good in the air, can hold up the ball well and can tussle with the big EPL defenders, a good first touch wouldnt hurt either. Eto'o is not that man, Ibra is. Thats not to say I dont value Eto'o, because I do, I have always loved his work and I always will. Look I dont particularly like Ibra to be honest, he is not my favourite type of player, I much prefer the Eto'o/Vila/Henry type striker, but i recognise the value in having the Ibra type. Now why Ibra? Because out of that type of player he is the best i think. The other options would be Drogba, Trez, Llorente, etc.

My loyalty lies to the club and the continued success of the club, not to any one player. If i believe, and I do believe, that a player like Ibra will be of more value to us than a player like Eto'o then I am not going advocate keeping Eto'o out of loyalty. If we could keep both then that would be the best solution but we obviously cant do that. Ibra brings another dimension to our game. A player like Ibra means that every free kick, every corner, every ball into the box becomes far more dangerous. Last season there were games where we would get 20 corners and not score from any of them. With a player like Ibra in the box it will be a completely different story. Teams will have to think twice about conceding corners and free kicks and that makes them far more susceptible. How many times have we seen Alves cross into the box with nobody able to get to it. If he had a proper target to hit then we would be unplayable. Thats not to say we should change our game, far from it, but it gives us the ability to mix it up a bit....

@Hillal ...so u want wait for the transfer market to b open and then start negotiate. Cool....if u want to bring some wastage then ya probably can start negotiating just before the transfer season closes,becz thts well enough but if u say u want some proven players and experienced then i would say u rather dream. do u think the teams will keep the players because u r a treble winner ,...not necessarily..they need money and transfer market is fast enough than u thinking of. And about spending u have to trade off ... sometimes u have to pay more u hav to accept tht.Madrid definitely has made the market unstable so other teams now may have to pay little more than expectation. if u deny to buy for this reason...tht would not be a wise decision. u have to recover the lacking u have because others are doing so.ur team strength might be at the same level as of last season,but other teams' strength has been increased ..don ignore that.

The beauty of Ibra is that while he is the big, strong, powerful type of striker he is also very very skilled. His ability on the ball is amazing. Much better than say Drogba. Which means that he can still play at the same level as the likes of Henry, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi. Drogba I dont think could play at that level. Even Eto'o to be honest, as amazing as he is at times, is not at the same level of skill on the ball as his teammates. His first touch for example can be awful at times.

The only thing Ibra really lacks is pace, but we have lots of pace already and for those games where we need more then we can play Henry in the middle.

What I am getting at is very simple really; getting a player like Ibra allows us to play another way, if and when the need arises. Eto'o does not give us that option, as good as he is, he just doesnt have the physical attributes. That is why Pep was so fixated on getting a big front man last year and why he is trying so hard to land Ibra now. He realises that once we have that plan B we become close to unplayable. A parked bus is nowhere near as a effective when you have a big target man. Teams wont be able to play the same way. When we played Chelsea they let Alves put crosses in all night, they kept most of their defenders in the box, allowing Alves space on the wing cos they knew they had any cross covered. If we have a player like Ibra in the box they cant let Alves cross freely, they will have to mark him much tighter, which means less defenders in the box and more space for our players. IT just makes it so much harder to defend when, on top of all the skill of players like Messi, Henry, Iniesta, Xavi, Alves you then also have to deal with a player like Ibra. It would be so hard to stop.

Also don't think for a second that Eto'o is not looking out for his own interests. If he was willing to be reasonable he would have signed a contract already and this whole issue would be irrelevant....

He is demanding 10 mill Euro per year. He is demanding to be paid more than Henry or Messi. He is already paid as much as them and more than Xavi and Iniesta. Where is his loyalty to the club and to the fans? If he loved the club so much we would have accepted the ludicrous salary he is already on and signed a new contract. He is already one of the highest paid players in the world. Instead he is bullying the club by demanding a ridiculous sum of money and using the fact that he is in the last year of his contract to try and force us into paying him or risk losing him for free next year. His loyalty is to himself, I can understand that, I really can, but my loyalty is to the club. He said it already, Barca is just a job, his heart lies with Mallorca. Why should I want to keep him out of loyalty if I think another player could bring something fresh to the table?

I would be happy to keep Eto'o if he was being reasonable and get a plan B type player like say Llorente. That would be great, we would keep Eto'o and have a plan B, fantastic. Eto'o is not being reasonable though, at least not at this moment, maybe he changes his mind and signs the contract, in which case great. We go get llorente and we have our plan B. If he wants to be difficult though, then let him leave, a player like Ibra would get us as many goals if not more and then he also becomes the plan B. Eto'o needs Barca waaaay more than Barca needs Eto'o. We make his life easy, the majority of his goals are tap ins, yes he scores the occasional screamer but no more so than Villa, Torres or Ibra. Any of them would score as much, maybe even more. Eto'o is not the player he was at Mallorca or when he first came to us, he lost that edge when he injure his knee. He used to demolish defenders with his pace, he was incredible, nobody could catch him, he has lost that now and he depends a lot more on good service....which he certainly gets.

@ HILAL,

If you think Ibrahimovic will demand any less than Eto'o then I think you are mistaken. Ibra is making $12 million a year and you think he will give up $3 million dollars a year to come play for us. Ok, hey we can all dream, we are entitled to it but let's be realistic. I think they (txiki and Laporta) are willing to pay Ibra at least $10 mil. So the problem with Eto'o then becomes about something "other" than money. Which is what irks me the most about this whole situation.

Luis Figo was a favorite of mine and his going to Madrid didn't make a Merengue. So, that argument about loyalty to 'one' player is ridiculous.

Barcelona is a business and so is every player on the team...have you heard Eto'o is not the only one asking for a raise...so is Yaya...so is VV. They are businesses just like Barcelona and they have the right to desire higher profits, especially if when have had a banner year to back it up. SO, MY LAST WORD ON THIS TOPIC:

"ETO'O SHOULD BE REASONABLE BUT HE SHOULD NOT SIGN ANYTHING, IF THEY WANNA PLAY HARDBALL FOR NO GOOD REASON, well then so be it ...play out his last year then find another club...no one at Barcelona, in their right mind, will ever FORGET him. LAPORTA AND TXIKI ARE BEING RIDICULOUS but HE TOO, JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE WOULD, DESERVE TO BE REWARDED FOR HIS WONDERFUL WORK".

As for Ibrahimovic, I hope he comes but Ibrahimovic is no Samuel Eto'o...

An

I'd really like to see Villa join Barça. His playing style appears to fit well with Barca's and he'd be great with Messi and Iniesta and Xavi. I think Pep might have a thing about tall No.9's, but I don't think it should be an issue given the type of football FCB play.

I love DAVID VILLA....but i don't think his style fits us just right....we need a good goal scorer and a striker who is willing to run around alot....Villa's workrate is very mediocre and he will have to work on this if he were to join us. However his strike partner Torres would fit just well and talking about these sort of players... who would suit us just great...WAYNE ROONEY is definitely one of them....sadly both WAYNE and TORRES would most likely be a too far off target.. I'm also wondering if anybody would agree that Dani Guiza would fit in as back up for Eto???This guy will come in cheap and good on my perspective.

Assuming we are UNABLE to sign either Ribery or Ibrahimovic and end up losing Eto'o , signing both Villa and Silva could be a nice option .

Along with Xavi , Iniesta , Puyol and Pique Barça will have SIX players who start for Spain , the number ONE national team in the world .

I realize that to compete in Europe , especially against EPL clubs we may need a bigger and more physical player than Villa but I would NOT turn down the chance to sign him especially when that would definitely piss Real Madrid off which is another bonus as far as I'm concerned !!

Florentino Perez arrogance and heavy-handed attitude regarding David Villa's signing seems to rub Valencia the wrong way .
They would rather sell Villa to Barça than to Real Madrid if the story is to be believed .

LINK

@Diatus

I never said Ibra would cost any less, but if he comes he will have to accept a pay cut, its as simple as that. So on the one hand Eto'o is demanding to be paid more and on the other hand Ibra is willing to be paid less. It is Inter I believe who are being difficult regarding his transfer fee and the willingness to pay Eto'o what he wants.

Yes they are all in the business of making money but both the club and the players have to be reasonable. Yaya is being reasonable, Eto and Valdes are not. Yaya is one of the lowest paid players, he deserves to be renewed and paid what he has earned. I hope he gets a new lucrative contract asap. Valdes also deserves a raise, but he wants to be paid something close to what Messi, Henry and Eto get and well that is just silly. Eto has not earned the right to make more money than anybody else, he is very valuable player but not so valuable that he can make unrealistic demands. Why should Barcelona break their wage structure for him? Does he deserve to be paid more than Messi or Henry? I dont think so. Of course Barcelona do not weant to let him go for free. I am not sure how can you say this:

"play out his last year then find another club...no one at Barcelona, in their right mind, will ever FORGET him"

That is insane. You just said yourself it is a business and all parties are in it to make money. Why on earth would Barcelona let him go for free when they can sell him now for 30m? That is a ludicrous statement to make. He will be remembered for what he is done no matter when he leaves, now or next year or in 4 years. That is not the point. Nobody is doubting what he has done for the club. He has given us so much and he will always be remembered but nobody is bigger than the club. The club ALWAYS ALWAYS comes first. To me getting 30 million for him now is much more important than letting him stay for another year and leave for free because thats what he wants to do.....

That is putting the players' interests ahead of the clubs' interests. Why would you want to do that? I would definitely rather sell him now and get as much as possible for him than let him stay for a year and leave for free. That would be pointless and no club in the world would want to do that.

I agree that Ibra is no Samuel Eto'o. Are you reading my posts properly? I have already said repeatedly stated that they are completely different strikers and I have always prefered the Eto'o type striker. Nobody is arguing with you on that issue, BUT Eto cannot and will never be able to do some of the things that Zlatan can do. He will never be able to provide a plan B and that is why i see Ibra as being more useful to us right now.

Regarding Villa, I would still prefer Ibra because of all the reasons already stated. Villa is an incredible striker but he still doesnt give us what Ibra does. If we get Villa then we would still need a different kind of striker. We still need the big, strong striker who can get on the end of the zillion crosses Alves puts in the box. Maybe a good solution if we sell eto'o is to buy Villa and Llorente. Both Spanish, both have played with many of our players, both are proven in Spain. If Inter are going to be difficult about Ibra then that might be the best option, cerainly i wouldnt want the club to overpay for Ibra the same way they shouldnt overpay for Eto'o. They should always be sensible.

If Eto'o wants to stay then he should accept the offer on the table, which would still make him level with the best paid players in the club and one of the best paid players in football. I dont think he does want to stay, not unless we give into his ridiculous demands, which i hope we dont do. If he wants to leave, let him leave. Like I said, Eto'o needs Barca not the other way round. No other club in the world will create so many chances for him. If he goes to Inter he wont score half the goals he scores here, he wont get the service.

@neuro11

So what would you suggest we do? Play the same stupid game that RM are playing? Bid ridiculous sums of money for players that dont merit the price tag? Should we go and offer 60m for Ribery? Or the 70-80m that Inter are demanding for Ibra? Come on, be a little reasonable. We need to be a little patient is all im saying, we are not the ones playing catch up, everyone else is trying to catch up to us. We are in a position where we can wait a bit, be smart and get the players we need for the right price. I am not suggesting we wait till its too late, but it is still very early, the transfer window doesnt even open for a few more weeks. There is no rush, we are not in a desperate situation like RM. Be a little patient and have a little faith in the club and the manager that just brought the treble to a Spanish team for the first time in history.

@Hilal,

what is ridiculous about Eto'o's demand? what is the demand to start with? do you know what the offer on the table is?

I am reading your post properly and what I hear you saying is that you agree that Ibra is NO Eto'o yet you are willing to let the latter go for the former. That doesn't even make much sense.

You must the one who is not reading my post properly. HE DESERVES LOYALTY FROM THE CLUB TOO.

I agree with you that he shoulg be reasonable and I have said that many times but do you know what the offer is?

@Hilal,

"No other club in the world will create so many chances for him. If he goes to Inter he wont score half the goals he scores here, he wont get the service."

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU KNOW THAT HE WON'T SCORE AS MANY GOALS? Again, you are just making these broad statements that are frankly meaningless.

UP To this point he never said that he wanted to leave.So, why do you assume that the guy wants to leave when he clearly could have last year (before we won anything) yet chose to stay. He never said he wanted to leave. He is saying that he wants to be paid better. Neither you nor I know exactly what he is asking for. So, why not simply ask for reason from both sides and hope for the best instead of being ungrateful to the hardest working forward in the world by assuming that he is dispensable.

The best interest of the club? from whose's perspective? Laporta? so that he can be reelected because he managed to "save" the club so much money? from Eto'o's perspective? who, by the way, has just as big a claim as a blaugrana as anyone who's ever worn the jersey, that is a load of crap...it is code for ... "CONSIDERING WHO YOU ARE, WE THINK THAT YOU'VE ALREADY DONE WELL FINANCIALLY" and that is bologna.

I don't want to say too much but this is not about money and Eto'o, again, should be reasonable but he deserves as much as he has given. The rest is just pure and simple lack of consideration.

"what is ridiculous about Eto'o's demand? what is the demand to start with? do you know what the offer on the table is? "

It is in the region of 10 million Euros per year that he is demanding. The exact number is not known but whatever it is he wants to be highest paid player in the club and he has not earned that right IMO. Yes he is valuable but no more so than Messi or Xavi or Iniesta. Why should he get paid more? Laporta made it very clear a few days ago; we want to keep him and we want to come to an agreement over his new contract but we are not going to break the clubs wage structure to accomodate Eto'o and nor should we.

"HOW ON EARTH DO YOU KNOW THAT HE WON'T SCORE AS MANY GOALS? Again, you are just making these broad statements that are frankly meaningless."

Its a simple deduction my friend. Eto'o gets a crazy number of chances to score goals at Barcelona, we create more chances for strikers than any other club, certainly Inter. I dont think you will find many ppl who will argue that point. Lets say on average he scores 1 in 4 chances that he gets, i dont know the exact ratio, but that seems about right. So in order to score 30 goals he has to get 120 chances. Inter will never create as many chances as we do, so Eto'o will not score as many goals, its not a hard deduction to make. Eto'o needs service to shine, thats why he dissapears in the games where the midfield is not playing well. At Inter he will not get the same service. I dont think many ppl would argue with that either. Sure, nobody can know the future, maybe he goes and scores 40 goals for Inter, but the resonable deduction is that he will score less. Another reasonable deduction is that Villa or Torres or even Ibra would score more....why? because they convert more chances than Eto'o does, that is a fact, go look it up if you want. So simple maths dictates that if a player like Villa gets 30% less chances to score at Valencia yet scores almost the same number of goals that Eto'o does.....

Then that means if he played for Barca and got 30% more chances to score he would score more goals than Eto'o. Is that for certain? Of course not, nothing is, but it is the reasonable, sensible deduction to make. How do you know Eto'o doesnt have an awful season next year if he stays with us? How do you know he doesnt end up scoring only 10 goals? U dont, we dont, nobody does, but it is a reasonable assumption to think that he will score at least 25 goals. We can only base our opinions on resonable assumptions because nobody knows the future.

"The best interest of the club? from whose's perspective? Laporta? so that he can be reelected because he managed to "save" the club so much money? from Eto'o's perspective?"

The best interests of the club from the perspective of being successful. I am not thinking of individuals. Not Laporta, or Eto'o or anybody. I am thinking of the club, of Barca. The best interests of the club is to improve, to continue the amazing success of this season, to make smart, economically viable and stable decisions. Not to give into silly demands or overpay for players because RM are doing it. The best interests of the club are to either sign Eto'o on a very lucrative yet reasonable contract (like Messi or Henry) or to sell him now and get as much as possible so the money can be reinvested in another player. Has he given the club a lot? Of course he has, nobody is disputing that, but does that mean we should give him more than anyone else? I dont think so.

"I am reading your post properly and what I hear you saying is that you agree that Ibra is NO Eto'o yet you are willing to let the latter go for the former. That doesn't even make much sense."

Clearly you are not reading my posts because i made this point very clear; Ibra brings something DIFFERENT to the table, somehing that Eto'o cannot physically bring. Its not a complicated concept. He gives us the option of playing a little differently if we need to. Eto'o does not.

Look at the end of the day it doesnt really matter what I think, these are just the opinions of one fan. What matters is what Pep thinks and he seems to think that we need Ibra, otherwise we wouldnt be trying so hard to get him. So he obviously sees more value in him than he sees in Eto'o, otherwise his priority would be to renew Eto'o. So really there is no point arguing over this. We have a difference in opinion, lets leave it at that and see what happens and what Pep, Laporta and Txiki decide. I have faith in all of them so whatever they decide to do I will be happy and so should you...

This is a very interesting debate . It is hard to pick the ideal CF between Eto'o , Villa and Ibrahimovic .

Each player has pros and cons .

Villa maybe as clinical and technical as Ibrahimovic but he LACKS the size .

Eto'o is relentless and hard worker and a good finisher but can be WASTEFUL . He is probably NOT technically sound as either Villa or Ibrahimovic .

Ibrahimovic is very good technically and he is a good finisher . However , his work-ethics and attitude ARE big question marks .

He has the advantage over both Villa and Eto'o size-wise and heading ability . It remains to be seen if this can be translated into success against EPL sides .
Despite all his skills Ibrahimovic has NEVER won anything in Europe .

Scenario # 1
( probably the most likely scenario , IMO ):

Barça and Eto'o reach a compromise( 2-3 year extension and less money than Eto'o wants ) . Barça will NOT pay him as much as Messi . Nobody deserves to be as much as Messi .
Barça will NOT let Eto'o stay one more year without signing an extention so he can then leave for free . They maybe naive but NOT that stupid .

Scenario # 2 ( a possibility ) :
Barça pull the rug from under Real Madrid and sign David Villa . Great player but can he produce against big CB's from the EPL ?

Scenario # 3 ( least likely ) :
Barça decide to spend big and bring Ibra to Camp Nou for extensive rehab in order to turn him into a Barça-type player : unselfish , hardworking and team player : good luck with that .

IF Ibrahimovic can turn himself into an unselfish , hardworking team player Barça can only get stronger . However , I doubt if we will ever get him because of Inter high demands , Ibra's rediculous salary demands and his track record of selfishness , poor attitude and lack of motivation and hard work .

If we end up signing Villa I think we should go for a big and young backup like Llorente as Hilal mentioned .

@Hilal,

You know mate, no matter how much we debate, agree, or criticize what is being done, in the end we all follow our hearts. And that is the inherent meaning of being a fan. Of course, we will be happy with what is done in the end.

Hilal, you make some valid points and I have given you that much but from where I sit I just think that we should do everything to keep Eto'o that's all I am saying.

Anyway, we shall see what happens! and thanks for a nice debate.

@FCB-Holland

Agree with all of your points mate, you summed it up very nicely. I forgot to mention the point about Ibra's attitude and it is a very important point. HE doesnt have Eto's die hard work ethic, although ego-wise they are both the same. All top strikers are ego maniacs, its what makes them so driven and so good at what they do. I am not worried about his ego, Pep can deal with that. Regarding his work ethic, well that depends on him really. Like you said he hasnt won anything in Europe, just like Henry hadnt won anything in Europe before he came to us. Henry in terms of attitude and work ethic was very very similar to Ibra when he was at Arsenal. He never tracked back, he never worked his ass off, the team revolved around him, he was exceptional at attacking, but he did not defend. Look at him now, look what Pep has turned him into; He works as hard as anyone, he runs, he tracks back, he defends. Partly because of Pep and partly because of his own desire to win. I dont see why Ibra wouldn't do the same and knowing Pep he would sit and talk to Ibra and be sure that if he wants to come and play for us he will have to work hard. Hard work is the basis of our success, without it we are nothing. I dont think Pep would bring in any players if he didnt think they would work as hard as anybody else.

I think, like you though, that scenario 1 is the most likely, or scenario 2. I think Inter are going to be very stubborn about their demands and I dont think we will pay silly money for Ibra. Villa would be amazing, as long as we get a player like Llorente as a plan B (the same applies if we keep Eto). As much as I love Eto and Villa, neither of them can do what players like Llorente or Ibra can. We need that added dimension in our game, because once we have that, we will become unstoppable

Indeed Diatus. You too make some valid points and I can certainly understand your desire to keep Eto. Like i said i have always loved him, i just think we could use a different option. We are all fans at the end and we all want to see the club become as successful as possible. Whatever happen I am sure we will be awesome next year, because we are already so good that we only need a few additions here and there. Anyways it has been an interesting debate, its always nice to exchange opinions with other dedicated fans.

Now lets see what happens. Latest thing i read was that we are looking more and more likely to capture Villa because neither he nor Valencia like Madrid or their arrogant attitude. I also read we might keep Eto'o even if we get Villa. Not sure how likely that is, but OMG can you imagine those two playing together? Jesus. I still think we would be better served with a big strong option as well, but i cant deny the appeal of seeing Eto and Villa together.

@Hilal,

latest thing I've read is that Man U is using some of their CR7 money to buy him. So the Mirror is saying that they are putting together a $52 offer for David Villa...this is crazy!!!

BUT...if we get Villa and keep Eto'o...wow man, that will be a sick front line. I think that we might even have to experiment with a 4-2-4...old school ...you know!!!

We will have everything then...great skill, clinical finishing, speed and explosion up front.

It looks very possible now that we may sign David Villa afterall . That would be great but can we keep Eto'o too ?

An attaking duo of Villa-Eto'o could be ideal but can we afford that ?
I mean is it financially feasible ?

However my gut feeling is that if we sign Villa Eto'o will have to move on .

Football is a cruel business . The bottom line will ALWAYS prevail over loyalty or past achievement and dedication .

For all the good things that Eto'o has done for the club unfortunately his unrealistic demands maybe his own doing .
If he was less focused on money he would have been a part of a great club for perhaps two or three years .

Is it all Eto'o fault or is he manipulated by a greedy agent who is ONLY interested in lining his own pockets ?

Anyway you look at it , it is very unfortunate situation !!

Hey. Just read that the club has decided to stop negotiations with victor valdes. I don't know what to think. I know he was asking a lot of money, probably too much for a keeper, but he is our keeper, he can't just go anywhere. Who are we going to sign? A keeper from a mid-table team? That won't work! He is the keeper that understand our game, the others (all of them) are used to play with a 5 or 6 men defensive line, they don't know how to take risks!. This has just broken me.
And about the strikers, i would prefer Eto'o over all, but i like the Villa option. I do like the fact he understands our play since he plays with Xavi and Iniesta often, and he is capable of doing great things with a very limited midfield such as valencia's. He is also hard working and low profile. I would like to have them both.
BUt irealy can't think of it right now.

valdes: like nic said, paying players more than they are worth can only bring more problems because other players will start to ask for more....

abt d stiking option, i'm tired of d reports but i just trust pep so much that he'll make d best decision for the team
all the options(includin st keepin eto) still look luxurious in my eyes though my fav will be for us to add robinho to the current forward line, been dreamin abt that. he can play left and striker which is an added bonus.....i think robinho will be a good buy, but then the transfer fee n wages come into play again

its also said toure is abt to renew, we need to settle that quickly

@Maria Ines

i saw on goal.com that we may sign Frey from fiorentina.....I think he is a much better keeper than valdes...

Toure is set to sign a new contract
and its just me but i prefer villa over eto'o but if we cant get villa i hope we keep eto'o

@ messiah10 ,

About Valdes ,

Valdes seems to be asking to be paid as a worldclass goalkeeper .

There is one problem : Valdes is NOT worldclass by any stretch of the imagination .

I would NOT be disappointed at all if Barça decided to sign another goalkeeper and let Valdes go .

There is another rumour about Barça trying to sign Asenjo . I think he could be an improvement over Valdes .

About Villa ,

It would be great if we can get Villa . I think he is technically better and more clinical than Eto'o . I doubt if Barça can afford to keep both players .

I think if Villa is signed Eto'o will have to leave !!

Frey would be a good option if valdez contract is successful. I would prefer Frey rather than asenjo in terms of experience. Seems like there is a positive sign on signing villa though not sure how much true the news is. Of course the most important news is contract renewal of Yaya.

There is a mistake sorry:

Frey would be a good option if valdez contract is unsuccessful

I might be too biased, but i really don't see any other keeper (i mean, an affordable keeper) being better than Valdes. I'm not his biggest fan, but you can't compare working as a keeper at Barça, where he's always at risk, than working at fiore or villarreal, where keepers are much more protected. It's just not the same situation. It took us so long to find someone in that position, that loosing him for a couple of millions doesn't have sense for me. And is he were that bad, we couldn't have won the past champions leagues, and manutd and milan wouldn't be (apparently) interested... I would keep him, definetly. At any cost, no. But the analysis should not only consider his wages but the reality of finding someone like him, who can adapt to the way we play. I don't see it that easy like just hiring any other keeper. We could easily throw a year by looking for the right keeper. And we don't have that year, since that would probably mean madrid will take our place.
And about robinho: the closer i want him to Camp Nou is in the visitor's dressing room. But that's not going to happen since mancity is just a too average team.

@Maria Ines i agree with u abt robinho. I don want him to join barca and break the discipline. he is quite well known for his undisciplined nature i think.

It seems that Valencia insist on including loaning Bojan for one year in any possible Villa deal .

I think this is good for Barça , Valencia and Bojan who can gain a valuable playing time with a quality club in the process .

I don't understand why Barça won't agree and seal the deal !!

We can easily give bojan for two seasons because he will get chance to play in a bog team like valencia.I never thought he was well enough yet to be a starter. he lacks physical strentgh to deal with defenders.So often loose the ball. But i think he would be a good finisher in time.Its better give him to valencia rather than a small team. No way i can see him more playing time in barca next season.

Villa is not a financially viable option 50 million plus the loan of 2 players, no way...

I want Felipe Luis, Zhirkov for the left wing and Toni, he'd be cheap since Bayern have 2 new strikers, he can give the attack height and score headers from Alves' crosses

ROBINHO!!!!!!!

This could be a steal for us. Say what you want, Robinho when in form is the best Brazilin in the world.

@neuro...Robinho does have a bad attitude at times. But playing in dreary upper england with sub par players isn't the life for a brazilian superstar.

Playing at the Nou Camp with the best players in the world might cheer him up. Plus he never was connected with Madrid and he's dyeing to let everybody know he's better than Ronaldo.

I hear it might be a loan, that's not Barca's style, that's the only thing iffy about it.

I wish we were in on Douglas Costa too.

And what happened to the Bruno Alves rumour?

I want claudio bravo from real sociedad. Please Txiki, it's the only way to stop the stupid madrid fever in this sad little country!!!! Put me out of my misery!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, i also think robinho has not only an attitude problem but a behaviour problem. He's like Dinho minus the talen. So no, thank you very much!.

@Maria Ines

"Robhino like Dinho minus the talent"...best quote ever!!!!

I have decided to stop worrying and just enjoy my summer. Just like Layi, I trust that Pep will make the right call for the team!!!

I hope that Barça fans DON'T set their hopes too high when it comes to new signings .

All the big names who were " allegedly " targeted by Barça are either NOT interested in joining the club or are being pursued by other clubs .

Several attempts to lure players like Ibrahimovic , Villa , Benzema , Lahm and Ribery were futile at best .

It looks like we missed out on Asenjo as Valdes is about to sign a new deal . So we are stuck with him until 2014 .

Damn !

yeah....seems like barca luck is bound to valdez hand....what a pity....at least we hav to worried abt so many set piece goals upto 2014!!!!!!

hello i think my best barca need 2 more player,s 1 robinho from man city and 1 mascharanho from liverpool and i hope we can be a champian,s next season.

i love barcelona forever..

. kovan mahmoud Wrote: | 23.50CEST | Jul 7, 2009
hello i think my best barca need 2 more player,s 1 robinho from man city and 1 mascharanho from liverpool and i hope we can be a champian,s again next season. and hello to every barcelona,s fun,s..

i love barcelona forever..