Pre-season will start in London

Barcelona first vice-president Alfons Godall has announced after a board meeting that Barcelona will start the next pre-season with a trip to London (read more here).

The squad will arrive on Tuesday 21 July and stay until Sunday 26 July and will play two friendly games at the new Wembley stadium: against English Premier League club Tottenham on Friday 24 July and against Egyptian club Al-Ahly on Sunday 26 July. Spanish news agency EFE claims that Barcelona already signed an agreement with sports marketing agency IMG, who will organize the two pre-season games.

Scottish tabloid The Scottish Sun claimed yesterday that Barcelona would take part in the so-called Wembley Cup on 26 and 27 July, with Celtic Glasgow chief executive Peter Lawwell confirming to the tabloid that his team would also participate: "The Wembley Cup is the first of its type at the new stadium, so we're delighted to be the first Scottish club to play there. It's a magnificent platform for Celtic to go and for our fans to go and support the team. So we're delighted about that."

Read more:
Barcelona to start pre-season in London
Barcelona reconsidering pre-season tour
Barcelona plans new US tour in 2009