Picture of the day: Ronaldo

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(not suggesting you'd be interested...)

News of the day - Tuesday

This post will be updated throughout the day.


Guardiola had a meeting with Eto'o yesterday, Eto' will stay and play against Wisla (Sport)
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Guardiola and Eto'o had a positive meeting yesterday (Catalunya Ràdio)

Guardiola has decided that Eto will stay but the decision will be taken after a meeting between the manager and the player will have taken place, Eto'o will ask Guardiola and Txiki to be clear in their public statements about why they changed their view (Marca)
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Everything seems to indicate that Eto'o will stay although the entourage of the player is still not sure because Barcelona hasn't clearly confirmed it (As)

If Tottenham continues to keep Manchester United waiting on the Berbatov deal, manager Ferguson will turn his attention to Thiery Henry (Manchester Evening News)
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Henry has had no indication, either from his club Barcelona or from United, that Ferguson has an interest in him, Barcelona don't want to let him leave and sources close to the player indicate that he has no intention of joining United (The Independent)
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Barcelona will block Henry's move to Manchester by giving him playing time in the Champions League qualifier tomorrow (Daily Star)
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Barcelona will wait for the outcome of the meeting between Silva's agents and Valencia before moving for the player, Barcelona doesn't yet have an agreement with the player although Silva would accept an offer (As)

Valencia won't offer Silva what his agents have been asking although they will rise their initial offer (Marca)
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Valencia thinks Silva is willing to stay if he gets a decent pay rise and in any case the club won't negotiate an exit for less than 30 million euro (Las Provincias)
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Barcelona will make a first bid of 20 million euro (Super Deporte)
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Silva says he only wants to leave Valencia for Barcelona despite interest from the Premier League (Daily Star)
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Valencia president Soriano reaffirmed today that Silva will stay at the club and that Barcelona didn't yet make a formal offer

Silva's agent Julio Llorente says that the player will start the season with Valencia and would only consider to move to a Spanish club (Sky Sports)
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Barcelona contacted Jorge Mendes, the agent of Cristiano Ronaldo, to say they were interested in the player and Manchester United manager Ferguson told the player during a meeting a few weeks ago that he could leave for half the fee the club was asking from Real Madrid, but Ronaldo only wants to join Madrid (Marca)
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Crosas sees Barcelona as part of his past and is only thinking about Celtic despite the buy back clause (press conference)
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Guardiola has decided that Barcelona Atlètic players Jeffren, Pedro, Sergi Busquets, Víctor Vázquez and Víctor Sánchez will stay with the first team for now (official website)
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Getafe is also interested in Jeffren (Sport)
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Celta Vigo B forward and former Barcelona youth player Goran Maric (24) will join Barcelona Atlètic today, Celta had asked for Valiente or Pedrito in return but that doesn't go through (Sport)
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Barcelona not interested in Ronaldo

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona is not interested in a transfer of Manchester United winger and Portuguese intternational Cristiano Ronaldo (23) and will therefore not make any move if Manchester United would decide to sell the play this summer (read more here).

The Barcelona board would consider the probable record transfer fee, which could come close to 100 million euro°, to be totally out of any normal market conditions.

Besides that, Barcelona doesn't want to disrupt the current balance and hierarchy in the squad, both economically, with Ronaldo asking a year salary of over 10 million euro, and on the pitch, where Lionel Messi should become the new and unchallenged number one.

Asked if the arrival of a star player like Cristiano Ronaldo could have an influence on the upcoming confidence vote, Barcelona president Joan Laporta seemed to exclude a transfer of the Portuguese forward at a press conference last week:

"We are satisfied with the new transfers and in the current squad we already have talented players like Messi, Xavi, Henry, Iniesta and others who are all getting the same media attention as other top players. Messi is a worldwide icon. We are just doing our job and the Cristiano Ronaldo issue cannot in any way be linked to the confidence vote."

Read more:

Nike wants Ronaldo in Barcelona

The Cristiano Ronaldo theory

Barcelona monitors Ronaldo events

Nike wants Ronaldo in Barcelona

Spanish football weekly paper Don Balón claims that American sportswear supplier Nike will do anything to keep Manchester United winger and Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo (23) in England or to make him move to Barcelona (read more here).

Nike wants to break Adidas' dominance in the football market during the next years. After losing Messi two years ago to their German rivals, Nike therefore wants to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at a "Nike team" so they can fully exploit his image.

If Ronaldo would move to an "Adidas team" like Real Madrid, the promotional possibilities would be strongly reduced. Nike already experienced the negative effects of such a move when David Beckham joined Madrid.

With the Portuguese winger wanting to move to Spain to be closer to his family and home land, Nike would help Barcelona, who has a contract with the American firm until 2018, to finance the 90 million euro° transfer fee: Barcelona would pay 50 million euro° and Nike would immediately put down 40 million euro°, reducing then afterwards their annual payment by 4 million euro a year over the next ten seasons.

Since the sports supplier also sponsors the Portuguese national team, Nike could then fully exploit the image of the football icon that Ronaldo has become over the last season. The possible election of former Barcelona sports vice president and former Nike executive Sandro Rosell as Barcelona president later this summer could be the key element in the operation (read more here).

With the relations between Real Madrid and Manchester United being on a historic low, Manchester United, and especially manager Alex Ferguson, would - in case they cannot hold on to the player - prefer to see Ronaldo leave for Barcelona to pay Madrid back for the troubles they have caused the English Premier League club.

Read more:
The Cristiano Ronaldo theory
Ezquerro close to joining Olympiacos
Barcelona monitors Ronaldo events

Barcelona monitors Ronaldo events

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that both the current Barcelona board as former Barcelona sports vice president Sandro Rosell, a probable candiate in the possibly upcoming presidential elecions, are closely following the events surrounding Manchester United winger and Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo (23).

Both parties want to be prepared just in case Manchester United would declare the Portuguese transferable and put him on the market.

Madrid sports tabloid Marca claims, like this blog reported yesterday, that Cristiano Ronaldo would be the big election promise of Rosell if elections would be held this year (read more here).

Rosell believes that he has solid arguments to convince the Manchester United player, who dreams about moving to the Primera División one day, to reject the Madrid offer and to join Barcelona instead. The former Barcelona board member could already have made the first steps to make a transfer to Barcelona possible.

Read The Cristiano Ronaldo theory

The Cristiano Ronaldo theory

There's a rumour/conspiracy theory/urban legend about Manchester United winger and Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo (23) running through Barcelona these days. Because it's a really nice one, I don't want to hold it from you.

One.
Ronaldo is using the interest of Real Madrid to pressure Manchester United manager Ferguson, hoping Sir Alex will in the end just throw him out. When Manchester agrees with an exit, Ronaldo would nevertheless not go to Madrid. But to Barcelona.

Two.
Ronaldo would have agreed with sports supplier Nike that he would join Barcelona to replace there Ronaldinho as the star of a team that is officially sponsored by Nike.

Three.
The man behind the whole strategy would be former Barcelona sports vice president and former Nike executive Sandro Rosell. Rosell thinks that the vote of no confidence against the Barcelona board will succeed, which would mean there will be presidential elections in a few months time. Rosell will most probably take part in the presidential race and would start as the favourite candidate. The transfers of Ronaldo and of Portuguese national team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari would be the secret weapon of Rosell in those elections.

Read more:
Barcelona keeping an eye on Cristiano Ronaldo
How things stand: Wing attackers
OFFICIAL: Gerard Piqué

Barcelona keeping an eye on Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that the Barcelona board has ordered Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain to closely monitor the situation of Manchester United winger and Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo (23).

Asked about the rumours linking him with Real Madrid, Ronaldo has repeated to Spanish television station Antena 3 that he would like to play in the Spanish league: "I already said a million times that I would love to play in Spain. But dreaming is one thing. Another thing is that dream to become reality."

Ronaldo is at this moment negotiating a contract renewal with Manchester United. His current contract expires in 2012 and the club wants to make that 2014 while giving the player an important salary rise to reward him for the excellent season he played.

Rumours go that Ronaldo would have a buyout clause worth of 70 million euro°. Barcelona would think that's a reasonable price for the Portuguese wing attacker. If that fee is confirmed and if Ronaldo and Manchester don't reach an agreement, Barcelona could make a bid in the summer.

The fact that Barcelona president Joan Laporta has a close relationship with Jorge Mendes, the agent of Ronaldo who also represents Barcelona players Deco and Márquez, could give Barcelona a little advantage. Ronaldo, who is spending much time in Mallorca since his current girlfriend Nereida Gallardo lives there, would like the city of Barcelona a lot, especially because of the nearness of the sea.

Read more:

How things stand: Wing attackers

Cristiano Ronaldo in, Ronaldinho out

Deal with Manchester on Pique

How things stand: Wing attackers

(at the end of the season, Barça Transfer Zone looks forward to the coming transfer summer making an analysis for each position, in part 7 we look at the wing attackers)

2007-2008
On the right wing, Giovani dos Santos (19) got a lot more playing time than expected due to the two serious injuries of Lionel Messi (20). Bojan (17) and Eto'o also moved away from the centre to the right side a few times this season.

First choice on the left wing Ronaldinho (28) had a season full of injuries and was rarely fit and on top of his game. Andrés Iniesta (24) and Thierry Henry (30) were the players who used to replace him. Santiago Ezquerro (31) did not get many opportunities.

Out
Despite interest from Chelsea and Inter, Messi will certainly stay. The situation of Giovani is not clear. He could leave on a loan or a permanent deal. Manchester City, Inter and Chelsea are rumoured to be interested. Both players could also be used more on the left wing next season.

Ronaldinho will most probably leave in the summer. AC Milan is the main candidate for the transfer, with Manchester City and Inter Milan as the most important challengers. The contract of Ezquerro expires in June and the player didn't receive a renewal offer.

In
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich - 24), who can play on both wings, is probably the main candidate but is very unlikely to leave the German champions after one year. The other name that has been sticking out is left winger David Silva (Valencia - 22).

Further there were rumours about Hatem ben Arfa (Lyon - 22), Diego Capel (Sevilla - 20), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United - 23), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo La Coruña - 21) and Mancini (AS Roma - 27). Gai Assulin (17) could be promoted from the Barcelona B team.


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

The search of Txiki (5) : Attack

On Thursday Catalan sports paper Sport gave a global analysis of the Barcelona transfer activity for next summer. In five episodes we bring this story to you.

Up front Barcelona is looking for a winger and a scorer. Last november Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Barcelona sports vice president Marc Ingla met in Lisbon with the agent of Manchester United right winger Cristiano Ronaldo (23). No chance. Bayern Munich right winger Franck Ribéry (24) has been sounded. Sevilla left winger Diego Capel (20) and AS Roma left winger Mancini (27) are also on the Barcelona list. With Mancini there would be a pre-agreement.

For the center forward position, the transfer price of the first choice, Olympique Lyon striker Karim Benzema (20), is unattainable, so the club has to look at other options. Sevilla forward Luis Fabiano (27) is an alternative who would cost far less, although the problem is that the rights of the player are divided between Sevilla and investment group GSI. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba (30) will only come if his former manager José Mourinho will become the next Barcelona manager.

(this is the fifth and last part of this story, the first part and the second part were published on Thursday, the third part and the fourth part were published yesterday. The five episodes are: 1. Defence, 2. How it works, 3. Midfield, 4. Marital status, 5. Attack)

Cristiano Ronaldo in, Ronaldinho out

British tabloid The Daily Star claims that Barcelona have joined the race for Manchester United right winger Cristiano Ronaldo (23), after rumours of recent talks between the player's agent and Real Madrid (read more here).

Barcelona would plan to sell players like Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho (27), Portuguese midfielder Deco (30) and Icelandic attacker Eidur Gudjohnsen (29) to enter the transfer market in the summer with over 100 million euro at their disposal, half of which would be spent to finance a deal with Manchester United over Cristiano Ronaldo.

Txiki on Cesc, Bojan and Cristiano Ronaldo

Asked about the rumours linking Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas (20) with a return to Barcelona (read more here), Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain seemed to close the door for the Barcelona youth product in an interview with Catalan television channel TV3: “He decided to leave, and the people who go take the risk of not being able to return.” Begiristain added that Cesc probably would have played in the first team if he had stayed, like other youth players who refused Premier League offers: “Bojan had faith, he refused an offer from England and preferred to rely on the opinion of our coaches who advised him to stay.”

Begiristain made clear that Manchester United right winger Cristiano Ronaldo (23) is "transferable" but not really a Barcelona target since that would mean that Barcelona would only focus on one player and that’s not the club’s policy.