this article was published exactly one year ago:
Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Bayern Munich wing attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (25) was on top of the wish list of Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola to replace Ronaldinho as left wing attacker.
Barcelona sounded out Bayern officials who were nevertheless not willing to start talking (read more here).
The second name that was proposed by Guardiola was that of Real Madrid left winger and Brazilian international Robinho (24). After talking with agent Wagner Ribeiro, it soon became clear that Madrid didn't want to sell the player to Barcelona (read more here).
Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain then proposed trying the transfer of Valencia left winger and Spanish international David Silva (22), who in the end chose to renew his contract with Valencia.
Barcelona finally looked at the option to sign Zenit Saint-Petersburg forward and Russian international Andrei Arshavin (27) or Sevilla left winger and Spanish international Diego Capel (20). Although Guardiola wasn't totally convinced of their qualities, both players could have partially solved the left wing problems but a deal was not found.
Read more 4 September 2008 news:
Iniesta wants to spend whole career in Barcelona
Renewal coming up for Pedro and Victor Sanchez
Manchester City will launch bid on Messi
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1 comment:
Ramzi said...
Its always a doubt when spanish papers write something, but I admit I had the same sequence in my mind-aside of Robinho, so I am satisfied with the effort made.
fc_barca said...
I think Barca should sign Ribery next summer together with Karim Benzema. I think that's all we need, maybe sell Keita and buy Hernanes but Ribery & Benzema are the most important players to sign and we should without a doubt never let Messi leave for Man City, Messi should show his respect for Barcelona and tell Man City that money isnt everything. Would be a really great triangle.. Messi Benzema Ribery
Anonymous said...
if we happen not to get guys like ribery,silva...why can't we get guardado from la coruna i think he could help us as well.
Hadi said...
the best player for replacing ronaldinho is GUARDADO (Deportivo)! he is young and has great speed and dangerous crosses (something that barca need the most). just watch his crosses against LUCKY madrid...he is soooo great and with low buyout clause.....
Dan R said...
Guardado is indeed a great player who i think is one of the most talented wingers in the world!
Pep, can you find out what is his buy-out clause?
Maybe barca can get him even in January since deportivo doesn't play in Europe, for the time being.
pep said...
Apparently 25 million euro, Dan.
( http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.com/2008/04/looking-for-left-winger.html )
cojonudo said...
Thank God the Robinho move never happened! Missing out on him is a "win" in my book.
Ribery would have been a coup indeed. But Bayern came to their senses and realized there was no rhyme or reason to sell him after just transferring him the year before.
I've been singing the praises of Guardado for some time now. It's nice to hear that I'm not alone in my sentiments. I think he would/could have come at a cheaper price than Capel as well. Yes, I know, he's on the small side, but last I checked there weren't any Jans Koller-types playing winger out there either.
Dan R said...
its much affordable,
we should get him. period.
and another thing,
young Sebastien Giovinco of Juventus, what positions does he play. he seems like a fabulous player... and if he is a left winger, i think there is no better option on the market.
Anonymous said...
i think we can forget about ribery... unless he really forces a transfer himself bayern won't even think about selling him... i'm german, i know the bundesliga well and bayern depends a lot on him... still i would love to see him in barcelona...
Jnice said...
How is missing out on Robinho a win? When he was focused last year, he tore up the left wing. That first half of the season he was Madrid's MVP. If we had him on the left and Messi on the right, our offense would undoubtedly be the best in the world. You can't question Robinho's quality, especially in La Liga over the past couple of seasons. He has really come into his own and I would have gladly welcomed him to the squad. That is why I am so happy Madrid lost him because now, they basically only have Robben on the wing because Higuain sucks there and Robben is not one to stay healthy for the entire season.
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