Seydou Keita, who signed a four-year contract last month (read more here), has today been officially presented as new player of Barcelona. At a press conference Keita showed his happiness about the transfer: "I'm very happy to join the club that I consider to be the greatest club in the world. It was my dream as a little boy to come to Barcelona and I'm very happy that dream has come true. I will defend the colours of Barcelona with a lot of pride. This is an important step in my career."
Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola showed his satisfaction at the press conference: "I am more than satisfied with the transfer, he's a player with different qualities compared to our other midfielders which gives me more options. I'm convinced that he will help us to be a competitive team. I hope he'll feel comfortable at the club soon. I plan to use him at the left, although he also can play as defensive midfielder. I hope we can bring out all of his talent. He has impressive physical abilities. He has a powerful long shot, is good with the head and will bring a lot of depth to the team."
Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain explained that Barcelona had been following Keita for some years: "When he played for Lens, Touré and Keita were the best players in France. At that time, the team needed more a player like Touré but back then we already thought Keita could we a Barcelona player. He's a very complete player, very dynamic, who will give more balance to the team."
It's not yet decided which number Keita will wear. The list will be drawn up later on this summer.
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Read the whole Seydou Keita transfer story from the first rumours to the official presentation
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11 comments:
Welcome, Seydou!
And the shirt already looks better than yesterday ;)
Told y'all it would look great on a first-teamer. And FC Barcelona have an official announcement for all sides in La Liga:
Our midfield is now closed. Please refer all attacking attempts to the wings, where Mr. Abidal and Mr. Alves will despatch said requests.
Come on....Keita in front of Yaya flanked by Xavi? Hell yeah!
For those wondering, expect that Alves presentation to come right before the confidence vote.
We're gonna have a tough midfield this year. That's good; it should help with the problem we saw last year with Barca unable to hold onto leads, especially away from home. I would, however, like to see Alves put pen to paper...I'm getting a bit nervous the longer this goes without being confirmed, although the fact that Sevilla signed Navarro seems to indicate that it is all but official. If we can seal the move for Arshavin, I'll be content.
witch number will he have ?
The number is not decided yet, first they'll see who will arrive and leave.
Our midfield is not closed. There will come another one (probably Hleb). Then we will buy one winger (probably Arshavin) and one number nine (probably Adebayor).
I really don't see the place for Hleb if Arshavin comes. IMO, Arshavin's arrival denies Hleb's arrival, but not David Silva's since both of them are highly versatile and would provide Barca with plenty of attacking formation options.
In order for Barca to successfully close this transfer window, along with Silva and Arshavin, i would suggest that either Eto'o stays or replacing him with someone worth Barca's striker title - Benzema. As for Deco's replacement i would suggest to wait until next year and then go for Modric or even try to lure Fabregas back to his main club. Until then, midfield featuring Yaya, Keita, Xavi and Iniesta is more than good. Moutinho is an excellent player but even without him Barca have enough problems with height (Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Krkic, eventually Silva, Arshavin...) which is main reason why I support bringing likes of Hernanes, Henrique, Alex Silva and even Ade. FACT is - Barca lacks tall, physicall and strong players.
Thats not true. Todays El Mundo says that Arshavin doesnt deny Hlebs come. Hleb is a better midfield player then Silva (and Silva is a better winger then Hleb) and there is no talk about Silva in last days. To get Modric? If you consider his quality and price - overrated. And it would be really stupid to refuse to sign him now and after one year buy him. Fabregas? What the hell is wrong with you to want such a bitch. I hope this silly traitor will rot in Arsenal to the rest of his career.
As for the striker case. Its to late to want keep Eto'o, Guardiola already said it openly. The decision was taken, Sammu is my favorite player but lets overcome it. I fully support the incom of Adebayor. By the way Benzema is out because he wants to stay, had a bad Euro and is helly expensive.
With Adebayor there would be some power. Look - Abidal, Adebayor, Henry, Keita, Pique, Toure. I think this in combination with the technical talent of Alves, Bojan, Iniesta, Messi or Xavi will create a perfect team.
If Keita can provide that 'Senna-type' role for the club I will be more than satisfied. With him and Toure I'm hoping they will have the midfield on lockdown.
I really find this comment amusing: "Fabregas? What the hell is wrong with you to want such a bitch. I hope this silly traitor will rot in Arsenal to the rest of his career."
Especially since we signed Pique recently... I don't want either of them in Barca since they left but it seems like the board thinks otherwise becuause they did buy Pique.
Fabregas is amazing...we are stupid not to want him back...Grow up its not like he went to madrid. We will get him within the next2/3 years
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