Case closed: Coloccini

Deportivo La Coruña central defender and Argentinian international Fabricio Coloccini (26) will not play for Barcelona as of next season, like had been strongly rumoured earlier this year (read more here).

Deportivo has officially announced yesterday that that the club has reached an agreement with Newcastle United on the transfer of Coloccini. The English premier League club will pay a fee that could rise to 13 million euro° for the Argentinian defender.

Read more:
How things stand: Central defenders
Case closed: Garay
Coloccini option drops back

Coloccini option drops back

Both main Catalan sports papers agree that Deportivo La Coruña central defender and Argentinian international Fabricio Coloccini (26) is no longer a main target for Barcelona.

Although Coloccini's agent Marcelo Lombilla was in Barcelona last weekend and Barcelona has held talks with the player's entourage over the past months (read more here), Barcelona would now focus its attention on Villareal central defender Cáceres (read more here).

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to Barcelona, Coloccini said last week in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he welcomes the interest: "Barcelona is amongst the best clubs in the world and you always want to play in one of them. There are always a lot of rumours but it gives a very good feeling that Barcelona is thinking about me. There has been no formal offer yet but I would be willing to listen to it. Deportivo needs to sell and we have talked about my situation in the beginning of the season."

Madrid sports paper Marca meanwhile claims that Deportivo president Augusto César Lendoiro will not hold the promise he made Coloccini last summer to let the player go this year when an offer of 10 million euro° comes in (read more here).

Read more:

Deal with Coloccini

Looking for a central defender

Negotiations with Coloccini to start soon

The short list

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona has drawn up a short list of ten players. At least seven of those players would come to Barcelona in the summer.


Will certainly come:
1. Gerard Piqué
2. Seydou Keita
3. Daniel Alves

Will most probably come:
4. Fabricio Coloccini
5. Alexander Hleb

One of the following two will come (in order of preference):
6. Florent Malouda
7. David Silva

One of the following three will come (in order of preference):
8. Karim Benzema
9. Emmanuel Adebayor
10. Dimitar Berbatov

Looking for a central defender

With Barcelona central defender Lilian Thuram (36) on his way out this summer, Barcelona planned from the start to bring in a new central defender. The serious injury of Gabriel Milito has now made Barcelona speed up the search.

Both main Catalan sports papers think that at this moment the main options are, and in that order of rank, Deportivo La Coruña central defender and Argentinian international Fabricio Coloccini (26) and Manchester United central defender Gerard Piqué (21), like had been analized by this blog last week (read more here).

Piqué left the Barcelona youth academy in 2005 for Manchester United. Due to a lack of playing time, the player has been rejecting until now to renew his contract that expires in 2009 (read more here). British tabloid The Daily Mail claims that Manchester United wants to sell players like Piqué and Saha to raise more funds they then want to spend in the summer. It is said that Piqué wants to return to Spain.

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Manchester United wants to renew the contract before letting him go on loan to Barcelona. Barcelona would prefer a permanent deal. With only one year left on his contract, the transfer fee is said to be around 5 million euro°.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that the Barcelona scouts have also been following two other players: AS Roma central defender and Brazilian international Juan (29) and Stuttgart central defender Matthieu Delpierre (27).

pep's opinion:
if you look at what we have now, there's mainly one thing lacking at the centre back: speed. don't know if coloccini or piqué really have that. and puyol, milito ànd coloccini: that's just too much hair!

Read more:
How things stand: Central defenders
Deal with Coloccini
Piqué tempted by Barcelona return

How things stand: Central defenders

(a few weeks before the end of the season, Barça Transfer Zone looks forward to the coming transfer summer making an analysis for each position, in part 3 we look at the central defenders)

2007-2008
Like was expected in the beginning of the season, the central pair Puyol-Milito started the most games until now. Due to injuries, this was nevertheless only the case in 18 games. The other most used pairs were Márquez-Milito (12 starts), Thuram-Milito (11 starts) and Thuram-Puyol (9 starts). Oleguer played only in the beginning of the season a few times as central defender.

Out
With Carles Puyol (30) and Gabriel Milito (27) no doubt going to stay, French international Lilian Thuram (36) will leave Barcelona at the end of the season. Since his contract expires in June and will not be renewed, the player has been given the permission to start talking with other clubs. There have been rumours about Arsenal and Salzburg.

Mexican international Rafael Márquez (29) could probably leave if a good offer comes in and if the club can find someone to replace him. The defender has been linked with Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid and AC Milan. Oleguer Presas (28) has been linked with an Ajax loan deal.

In
With Thuram leaving, Barcelona wants to bring in at least one first class central defender. If Márquez would also go, that would mean a second player should be transferred for that position, although it is not impossible that a new coach could use French left back defender Eric Abidal (28) in the centre.

Barcelona's first choice was apparently Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander - 21). It is believed that a deal with Santander was already found in the beginning of the year but that everything didn't went through in the end because of financial reasons (read more here and here).

At this moment Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo - 26) seems to be the first option and an agreement between all parties could be found in the coming weeks. Gerard Piqué (Manchester United - 21) is another player who probably has been contacted. Blocked in Manchester, the Catalan defender could return to Barcelona in the summer.

Other players that have been mentioned are Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan - 34), Lúcio (Bayern Munich - 29), Federico Fazio (Sevilla - 21), Martín Cáceres (Recreativo - 21), Daniel Jarque (Espanyol - 25) and Samuel Llorca (Elche - 22).



Read all How things stand contributions here or read the contribution about:
Goal keeper - Right back defender - Central defenders - Left back defender - Defensive midfielder - Attacking midfielders - Wing attackers - Centre forward

How things stand: Right back defender

(a few weeks before the end of the season, Barça Transfer Zone looks forward to the coming transfer summer making an analysis for each position, in part 2 we look at the right back defender)

2007-2008
With Belletti joining Chelsea in late August, everything was clear at the start of the season: Gianluca Zambrotta (31) would act as regular with Oleguer Presas (28) as his back-up.

Consecutive injuries of Oleguer caused the return of captain Carles Puyol (30) for more than ten official games to the place where he started his first team career. It even looked for a while like Puyol would become the first-choice right back, with Márquez replacing him in the centre. An injury of the Mexican could have prevented this from happening.

Out
Italian international Zambrotta, whose contract expires in 2010, is almost certainly returning to his home country in the summer. A deal with AC Milan seemed close (read more here and here), but the difficult negotiations on a transfer of Ronaldinho could postpone the final agreement. Milan seems to offer between 5 and 7 million euro° for the player. There have also been rumours about Juventus and Inter Milan.

Being a good team player, Oleguer is probably not very high on the Barcelona exit list. But if the player would like to leave to have more playing time, the club would not prevent that from happening. After being linked with Lazio Roma and Wolfsburg during the January transfer window, a few weeks ago there were claims about Ajax wanting to sign the Catalan defender on loan.

In
With Zambrotta on his way out, one of the main tasks in the coming transfer window is the transfer of a top right back defender. The first choice for this position is undoubtedly Dani Alves (Sevilla - 24). If Sevilla wants to sell this time, the player is not expected to leave for less than 30 or even 35 million euro°.

Second choice is Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich - 24), whose contract with Bayern expires in 2009 and who is not planning to sign a renewal. If Bayern accepts the full back to leave, the transfer price is expected to be between 9 and 15 million euro°. Lahm can also play as left back defender.

Other players that have been mentioned are David Cortés (Getafe - 28), Rafinha (Schalke 04 - 22), Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal - 24), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich - 31) and Maicon (Inter Milan - 26). Central defenders Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo - 26) and Gerard Piqué (Manchester United - 21) and defensive midfielder Stéphane Mbia (Rennes - 21) have also experience on the right back position.


Read all How things stand contributions here in the coming weeks or read the contribution about:
Goal keeper - Right back defender - Central defenders - Left back defender - Defensive midfielder - Attacking midfielders - Wing attackers - Centre forward

Deal with Coloccini

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Barcelona has recently reached a personal agreement with Deportivo La Coruña central defender and Argentinian international Fabricio Coloccini (26).

Barcelona will now have to find a deal with Deportivo, who has promised Coloccini that he can leave this summer. While Deportivo president Augusto Lendoiro was asking last summer a transfer fee of 9 million euro° for the player who has a contract until 2011, it is now expected that the player will leave for a price between 12 and 15 million euro°.

The tabloid claims that Racing Santander central defender Ezequiel Garay (21) was Barcelona's first choice but that the option was rejected after the player got injured earlier this year. In the end, the Barcelona technical staff chose Coloccini cause of his speed, his strength in one-on-one situations, his scoring ability and the fact that he can play on the right and on the left.

Asked about the new rumours, Coloccini denied at a press conference that there is already a deal: "One always tries to make progress and reach the top in the world of football. And at this moment, Barcelona is amongst the best teams in the world. But I'm playing for Deportivo and I have to have respect for the shirt that I'm wearing. All of this are rumours: there is no break-through and nothing is certain."

The Argentinian defender made clear that all he wants now is to focus on his current club, who can still qualify for the Champions League, and that he will not talk with his agent Marcello Lombilla until the season is over: "And my agent cannot close a deal without contacting me to give the final yes or no."

Read more:
Negotiations with Coloccini to start soon
Coloccini story unfolding
Rivals in the field for Coloccini

The four Barcelona summer objectives (1)

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo reports that the Barcelona tecnical staff has determined during a meeting on Tuesday the four main objectives in the coming transfer summer.

1 - Right back defender
The more than probable return of Barcelona right back Gianluca Zambrotta (31) to Italy, in all likelihood to AC Milan, obliges Barcelona to bring in a substitute. Because of his good price-quality relationship, Bayern Munich full back Philipp Lahm (24), whose contract expires in 2009, is at this moment the first option.

2 - Central defender
Since the contract of French central defender Lilian Thuram (36) expires in June and the situation of Mexican central defender Rafael Márquez (29) is uncertain, Barcelona wants to sign a first class central defender. The club would not be interested in Deportivo La Coruña central defender Fabricio Coloccini (26) or in Bayern Munich central defender Lúcio (29), who both would have been kind of offering themselves in the past few weeks. The transfer of Racing Santander central defender Ezequiel Garay (21) was well on the way until everything got too expensive due to the demands of the player's entourage.

(this was the first part of this contribution, you can read the second part here)

Rivals in the field for Coloccini

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that, after the rumour spread that Barcelona has been approaching Deportivo La Coruña central defender Fabricio Coloccini (26) (read more here), Real Madrid contacted the agent of the Argentinian international, Marcelo Lombilla, to let him know they would also like to sign the player. Madrid doesn't seen to have a lot of confidence in players like Cannavaro or Metzelder and thinks Coloccini could be the ideal player to strengthen the central defence. And even more so if the player would only cost 10 million euro.

Coloccini is excited but cautious

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to Barcelona (read more here), Deportivo La Coruña central defender Fabricio Coloccini (26) told in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE that he now is focusing on a good season finish with Deportivo but he admitted: "Barcelona is a great team and when one is linked with such a team one feels excited."

The Argentinian international nevertheless tries to keep a cool head about the possible interest: "Every time the end of the season is coming near, these kind of things are appearing, so we'll see."

(read everything on the Coloccini transfer story here)

Coloccini story unfolding

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to Barcelona (read more here), Deportivo La Coruña central defender Fabricio Coloccini (26) told in an interview with Argentinian radio station Radio La Red that he feels good in La Coruña, so if he would leave, it would be to better himself: "Barcelona is one of the most important clubs in the world and the ultimate goal of every football player would be to play there."

Meanwhile, Deportivo La Coruña manager Miguel Angel Lotina also reacted to the news at a press conference, saying that he always feels proud when there comes an offer for one of his players and that Coloccini has everything what it takes to be a part of the biggest team in the world: "Coloccini has the ability and the character to play in any team in the world. At his age, there are few players who have his level."

Catalan sports paper Sport claims today that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain has already been in contact with Marcelo Lombilla, the agent of Coloccini.

Negotiations with Coloccini to start soon

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that, after the deal with Racing Santander central defender Ezequiel Garay (21) could not be concluded (read more here), Barcelona is now interested in Deportivo La Coruña central defender Fabricio Coloccini (26).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain would already have talked with the Argentinian international and the negotiations with his agent Marcelo Lombilla are expected to start soon. Although he has three more years of contract with the club, Coloccini considers his stay with Deportivo as finished and has given his agent the permission to arrange a transfer to Barcelona, where he could play alongside fellow compatriot Gabriel Milito, or to any other interested club.

Since last summer, when Deportivo turned down a six million euro (°) bid for Coloccini from Zaragoza, who wanted to replace Milito who had left for Barcelona, a buyout clause of 10 million euro (°°) was agreed upon between the player and Deportivo president Lendoiro.