Toure Yaya is suffering from flu and could miss Sunday's game with Deportivo. The Ivory Coast midfielder has missed the last two days of training and may not recover in time for the match. He is said to have fever, migraine and an inflammation of the sinuses. The return of Deco is also under question; despite training normally at the same level as his teammates he has still not received medical clearance. Whether this is just a mix-up with the team doctors is unclear, hopefully he will be given the OK in time. I imagine he will start the game as a substitute along with Samuel Eto'o.

Good news for Barça as it seems that Toure Yaya will be fit for this Sunday's game against Almeria. Gianluca Zambrotta could also be included in the squad. With Deco out injured Toure is a vital piece to bring a balance to the midfield. Rafa Marquez is close to returning but it is more likely he will be back for the game at Valladolid on November 1st.

Samuel Eto'o has started running this week and next week he should start training with the ball. However, he is not likely to be back in the team until the home game with Recreativo on November 25th at the earliest.

Samuel Eto'o and Toure Yaya will no longer occupy places as non-European Union players after the Spanish Football Federation took the decision to accept an agreement signed in 2000 between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific states which affects the players of 77 states.

 This means that players from these countries that play in Spain will be considered as EU players. Barça are the club who benefit most from this ruling, having two players affected. Barça now have no non-EU players after Ronaldinho and Giovani dos Santos completed their double nationality in August. /blogs/FCBnews/posts/ronaldinho-obtains-double-nationality/

The following six players have also benefitted from the ruling: Diarra (R...

In a new feature I will be awarding the FCBnews Player Of The Month every month from now until the day I die. No surprises about the first winner. Yes, it's Leo Messi! I will also give my top five players of the month.

 My top five are the following:

1) Leo Messi

2) Andres Iniesta

3) Eric Abidal

4) Gabi Milito

5) Toure Yaya

Good to see the new signings playing so well. The prize will be to share a beer with me in my local tapas bar, so if Leo would like to contact me we can arrange a time...

Barcelona doctors have confirmed that Toure Yaya has suffered a tear to the femoral biceps muscle in his left leg. This is the muscle at the back of the thigh. He will be out of action for one month. Toure was injured five minutes from the end of last night's game against Levante and had to come off leaving Barça with ten men for the remainder of the match. Frank Rijkaard will now have to choose a replacement for Toure who had started the season so well in the defensive midfield position. Rijkaard could play Rafa Marquez in this position or move Iniesta back into midfield alongside Xavi and Deco.

Also injured yesterday was Gabi Milito, but he has not yet been ruled out of Tuesday's game with Stuttgart in the Champions League. 

There were mixed fortunes for Barça players in the latest international matches. Ronaldinho came out better than Rafa Marquez as Brazil beat Mexico 3-1 in Boston, Giovani dos Santos came on as sub for the last 16 minutes.

Xavi scored Spain's opening goal in their 2-0 win over Latvia, Andres Iniesta played most of the second half after coming on as sub for David Villa. There was also a successful night for Zambrotta who played all 90 minutes of Italy's 1-2 win in the Ukraine. 

Leo Messi had a good game, hitting the post and setting up Argentina's goal, scored by Demichelis, in the 1-0 win over Australia in Melbourne. And Eidur Gudjohnsen played his first match since his injury, coming on in the 53rd minute of Iceland's 2-1 win over Northern Ireland.

There was a poor night, however, for Thuram ...

Ronaldinho Gaucho capped a fine performance with a goal in Brazil's 4-2 win over USA in yesterday's friendly match. Ronnie also played a part in Brazil's first two goals. First he set up Kaka to shoot and the goalkeeper's save rebounded off a defender for an own goal. Lucio then headed home a Ronaldinho corner to put Brazil 2-1 up early in the second half. Ronnie's goal came in the 75th minute when he converted a free kick.

In the weekend's other international games, Iniesta came on as sub to save a point for Spain with a late goal in the 1-1 draw in Iceland, Xavi and Gudjohnsen played the 90 minutes.

Zambrotta, Abidal, Thuram and Thierry Henry all played in the 0-0 draw between Italy and France. Henry picked up a booking and will now miss France's game against Scotland through suspension. Deco played 90 mi...

Ronaldinho will no longer occupy a non-european place as today he swore on the Spanish constitution to become officially a Spanish citizen. Giovani dos Santos is also expected to gain Spanish citizenship in the next few days. This means that Barça will have only Eto'o and Touré as non-EU players.

Three days before official training restarts, new signings Thierry Henry and Touré Yaya both turned up for light training today. Touré arrived this morning to do  a session of running and stretching on his own, and this afternoon Henry joined him. It is good to see they are keen to begin work. They have both had long summer breaks so hopefully they will both reach 100% by the start of the season.

Touré Yaya was presented this lunchtime as Barça's latest signing. Touré surprised everybody with a change of name, the number 17 shirt that he will play in for the next four seasons will bear the name Touré Yaya. The ex-Monaco midfielder will miss a month of the season in January when he goes to play in the African Nations Cup along with Samuel Eto'o.

Touré stands out for his physique, at 188cm tall and weighing 78kg he should add some bite and stability to Barcelona's midfield. The 24-year-old said that signing for Barça was "a dream come true." Txiki Begiristain hinted that Thiago Motta would be leaving the club because the defensive midfield role is now well covered.