Stuttgart wants to keep Hleb longer

Speaking to journalists after Stuttgart's Champions league qualifier win against Timisoara, Stuttgart sports director Horst Heldt said that the club would want to keep Stuttgart attacker and Barcelona loan out Alexander Hleb (28) after the loan deal expires next summer:

"He's here for now, which is already a good thing. But of course we would want him to stay with us for a longer period."

Asked about the statements, Hleb said in an interview with German sports weekly Sport Bild that it could be an option for him: "I'm really happy when Horst Heldt says that he wants to have me with the club for a longer period. We will see what will happen."

watch Hleb scoring for Stuttgart here

Hleb has deal with Stuttgart

German sports weekly paper Sport Bild claims that Barcelona attacker and Belarusian international Alexander Hleb (28) has found a personal agreement with German club Stuttgart.

Hleb would sign a one-year loan deal with his former club. Italian sports paper Il Corriere dello Sport confirmed earlier today that Hleb had yesterday decided to reject the offer of Inter Milan and to join Stuttgart instead. Hleb would prefer to return to Germany because he doesn't want to live another year with language problems, as happened last season in Barcelona.

Read more:
What is happening with Hleb?

What is happening with Hleb?

Although Barcelona officially announced on Monday that Barcelona attacker and Belarusian international Alexander Hleb (28) would move on loan to Inter Milan (with a buy option of 10+2 million euro) as part of the deal on the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it is still not yet clear where Hleb will play next season.

Italian sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that one of the player's agents Maurizio Gaudino travelled to Spain yesterday trying to close a deal. He would nevertheless not have been able to find an agreement with Barcelona on last season's bonuses, nor to convince Hleb to join Inter. Inter would already be looking at other options.

German sports weekly Sport Bild reports that Hleb's agents Uli Ferber and Niki Spilevski travelled to Milan on Monday and Tuesday, but despite the pressure by Barcelona to leave, Hleb would want to stay at the club. Catalan sports papers Sport and El Mundo Deportivo meanwhile both claim that Hleb, who won't travel with the squad to the United States (read more here), could finally end up with his former club Stuttgart.

Read more:
Still no final deal with Hleb on Inter loan
Four youth players will travel to US
Hleb wants to stay at Barcelona

Hleb wants to stay at Barcelona

Asked about the rumours linking him with a loan move to Inter Milan (read more here), Barcelona attacker and Belarusian international Alexander Hleb (28) has said in an interview with German sports weekly Sport Bild that he wants to stay at Barcelona:

"I have a contract with Barcelona, so I'm preparing myself for next season together with the team. It's my goal to break through and to have success with this club."

The player's agent Uli Ferber added when talking to the magazine that he still didn't hear anything about a possible loan: "Nobody has yet spoken to Alex, to my colleague Niki Spilevski or to me about a possible move of Alex to Inter Milan. So we're at least a little surprised about the latest press reports, that we are not able to confirm."

Mino Raiola, the agent of Inter Milan player Ibrahimovic, meanwhile told journalists in Milan that Hleb is not part of the transfer operation that involves Ibrahimovic and Eto'o, but that the Belarusian player is involved in the transfer of Brazilian left back defender Maxwell from Inter to Barcelona.

Read more:
Hleb didn't yet talk with Inter
Official players' pictures (part 2)
Hleb regrets Barcelona move

Ribery or Cesc

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Bayern Munich attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (26) is still the main transfer target of Barcelona.

The paper suggests that Barcelona might possibly consider a record offer of 60 million euro° for the Frenchman.

Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge nevertheless repeated yesterday in an interview with German sports weekly paper Sport Bild that his club is not willing to sell Ribéry: "We're not playing poker, we're not driving up the price. We want to keep the player. Until now, Bayern received one formal offer - from a club that wasn't Real Madrid - and we have kindly rejected it."

El Mundo Deportivo claims that Arsenal midfielder and Spanish international Cesc Fàbregas (22) is the alternative if the transfer of Ribéry fails. In that case, Iniesta would move to the left wing next season. Barcelona would be willing to pay 40 million euro° for Cesc and to include a player in the deal.

Read more:
Arsenal willing to sell Cesc
Laporta comments again on the transfer market
Barcelona not giving up on Ribery

Bayern denies again that Ribery is for sale

Following a report in German sports weekly paper Sport Bild, German club Bayern Munich yesterday put out a statement on its official website repeating that Bayern Munich attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (26) is not for sale.

The official statement reads as follows: "In the Wednesday edition of 'Sport BILD' (June 17, 2009) there's a report on the cover and on pages 10/11 on a decision by the supervisory board of FC Bayern Munich AG that player Franck Ribéry could leave the club for the right transfer fee and that he won't be forced to stay. This is a hoax and does not reflect the truth.

For this reason, the board of the FC Bayern Munich AG correct things as follows:

1. There was and is no decision of the supervisory board of FC Bayern Munich AG on a sale of player Franck Ribéry.

2. The transfer (sale) of a player has to happen in accordance with the rules of the board of FC Bayern Munich AG and doesn't need to be approved by the supervisory board.

3. The board of FC Bayern Munich AG has unanimously decided that player Franck Ribéry is not for sale.

We ask to take note of this and not take part in the further spreading of false reports about this matter."

Read more:
Barcelona bid for Ribery
Poll result: Ibrahimovic or Ribery
Rummenigge: "We want Ribery to stay"

Bayern preparing a bid for Hleb

French sports paper L'Equipe claims that Bayern Munich is still interested in Barcelona attacker and Belarus international Alexander Hleb (27) (read more here).

The paper unconfirmedly claims that Bayern Munich was encouraged by informal talks between officials of both clubs during the Champions League tie on Tuesday. The German club is now expected to make a formal bid in the next few weeks. Barcelona could be willing to accept an offer of around 8 million euro°.

Asked about the rumours linking Hleb with a loan move to Bayern, Barcelona president Joan Laporta is meanwhile quoted as saying in an interview with German sport weekly paper Sport Bild that the clubs will discuss transfer issues when the time is there: "I cannot say what will happen in the summer. If anything happened than Kalle (Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge) would be the first one I would call. We have to deal with this kind of issues at a club level, we cannot become instruments of agents and advisors."

Read more:
Hleb still believes in Barcelona future
Guardiola denies Van Persie-Hleb swap offer
Hleb could be part of Ribery deal

Barcelona not planning to go for Ribery and Lahm

Asked about the rumours linking Bayern full back defender and German international Philipp Lahm (25) and Bayern Munich attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (26) with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Barcelona president Joan laporta has said in an interview with German sports weekly paper Sport Bild that Barcelona wants to respect the wish of the German club:

"I finally want to put an end to all these rumours by clearly saying: no! Our good relationship with Bayern is more important than any player in the world. Ribéry is for Munich what Messi is for Barcelona. That's why I understand that Kalle (Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge) says that Ribéry is not for sale. We accept that. The same goes for Lahm. He's a very interesting player but he's also a Bayern player. As long as Bayern isn’t willing to let him go, he's not an option for us."

Read more:
Ribery and Lahm approached by Begiristain
Zhirkov and Lahm on top of left back list
Ribery wants to join Barcelona

Messi and Eto'o best forwards in Europe

German weekly sport paper Sport Bild has drawn up a list of the 50 best forwards in Europe at this moment.

Barcelona player Lionel Messi (21) tops the list ahead of Samuel Eto'o (28), with Thierry Henry (31) being ranked at the 8th place.


The list was based on five criteria:

(1) the current market value of the player
(2) the average goals scored per game this season (club plus national team)
(3) ranking by ten Sport Bild journalists
(4) ranking by German record international Lothar Matthäus
(5) ranking by former German national team coach Berti Vogts



This is the the full list:

1. Lionel Messi (21 - Arg - Barcelona)
2. Samuel Eto'o (28 - Cam - Barcelona)
3. David Villa (27 - Spa - Valencia)
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (27 - Swe - Inter Milan)
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (24 - Por - Manchester United)
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (32 - Hol - Real Madrid)
7. Wayne Rooney (23 - Eng - Manchester United)
8. Thierry Henry (31 - Fra - Barcelona)
9. Raúl (31 - Spa - Real Madrid)
10. Fernando Torres (25 - Spa - Liverpool)

11. Emmanuel Adebayor (25 - Tog - Arsenal)
12. Karim Benzema (21 - Fra - Lyon)
13. Frederic Kanouté (31 - Mal - Sevilla )
14. Dimitar Berbatov (28 - Bul - Manchester United)
15. Mario Gomez (23 - Ger - Stuttgart)
16. Nicolas Anelka (30 - Fra - Chelsea)
17. Diego Forlán (29 - Uru - Atlético Madrid)
18. Vagner Love (24 - Bra - CSKA Moskow)
19. Miroslav Klose (30 - Ger – Bayern Munich)
20. Luca Toni (31 - Ita - Bayern Munich)

21. Adrian Mutu (30 - Rom - Fiorentina)
22. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (25 - Hol - Real Madrid)
23. Luis Fabiano (28 - Bra - Sevilla)
24. Kun Agüero (20 - Arg - Atlético Madrid)
25. Diego Milito (29 - Arg - Genoa)
26. Didier Drogba (31 - Ivo - Chelsea)
27. Robinho (25 - Bra - Manchester City)
28. Eduardo (26 - Cro - Arsenal)
29. Grafite (29 - Bra - Wolfsburg)
30. Pato (19 - Bra - AC Milan)

31. Gonzalo Higuain (21 - Arg - Real Madrid)
32. Vedad Ibisevic (24 - Bos - Hoffenheim)
33. Claudio Pizarro (30 - Per - Werder Bremen)
34. Edin Dzeko (23 - Bos - Wolfsburg)
35. Giuseppe Rossi (22 - Ita - Villarreal)
36. Alberto Gilardino (26 - Ita - Fiorentina)
37. Francesco Totti (32 - Ita - AS Roma)
38. Carlos Tévez (25 - Arg - Manchester United)
39. Robin van Persie (25 - Hol - Arsenal)
40. Antonio Di Natale (31 - Ita - Udinese)

41. Roman Pawlyuchenko (27 - Rus - Tottenham)
42. Goran Pandev (25 - Mac - Lazio Roma)
43. Patrick Helmes (25 - Ger - Bayer Leverkusen)
44. Alessandro Del Piero (34 - Ita - Juventus)
45. Ivica Olic (29 - Cro - Hamburg)
46. Dirk Kuyt (28 - Hol - Liverpool)
47. Amauri (28 - Bra - Juventus)
48. Robbie Keane (28 - Ire - Tottenham)
49. Adriano (27 - Bra - Inter Milan)
50. Marco Di Vaio (32 - Ita - Bologna)



Read more:
Messi second highest paid player in the world
Eto'o leading Golden Shoe standings
Messi best dribbler in world football

Hleb honoured by Bayern interest

Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to Bayern Munich (read more here), Barcelona attacker and Belarus international Alexander Hleb (27) has said in an interview with German sports weekly paper Sport Bild that he welcomes the interest but that he is now only thinking about succeeding at Barcelona:

"When a club like Bayern is interested in you, that's of course great. It's one of the top clubs in the world and I know from my time at Stuttgart that Bayern is a very special club. That's why I'm pleased and honoured with the interest.

It's true that Bayern also wanted me last summer and that a deal was close. But I'm in Barcelona now and you don't win anything by speculating about the past. I'm now fully concentrating on Barcelona and I'm working hard on training to make progress. I'm playing with Barcelona and that has always been a child's dream for me, which now has been fulfilled.

Of course I want to play and I've come to Barcelona to win my spot. I want to show here what I can. On the left, on the right, in the centre, that doesn't matter. I believe in myself and I know I can be part of this team. On the other hand, I'm at the perfect football age now. And I don't want to lose those best years by sitting on a bench. When I was 20 years ols, I had time. But I'm almost 28 years old now and I think I've already proven something in my career."

Asked by Sport Bild about the Hleb rumours, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge didn't really want to enter the issue: "I don't want to comment on it, because if I say that it's an interesting player, then it would seem as if we've signed him already. We didn't speak with anyone at this moment. It's true that we held talks last summer. In the end the transfer didn't went through because of some minor details."

Belarus national team coach Bernd Stange meanwhile said in an interview with British tabloid News of the World that Hleb wants to leave Barcelona: "In London he was a hero. If I went to a restaurant with him, there in a matter of seconds about 20 people would surround him asking for an autograph.

Now he is at a mega-club. They have 25 world-class players. Only eleven of them can go on to the pitch. Seven sit on the bench and seven more watch games from the stands. It makes me nervous, too, when I see the captain of my team coming on as a sub for five or ten minutes or not playing at all. But he needs to make a fight of it."

Read more:
Hleb could be part of Ribery deal
Guardiola denies Van Persie-Hleb swap offer
Hleb agent denies exit rumours

Barcelona following Stuttgart striker Gomez

German weekly sports paper Sport Bild claims that Barcelona is still interested in Stuttgart forward and German international Mario Gómez (23) (read more here).

Barcelona would be one of the European top clubs that have been scouting the striker during the season. Gómez could leave the German club this summer for a buyout fee of 35 million euro°.

Stuttgart has confirmed that Barcelona scouts have at least been watching two games of the club and the player's agent Uli Ferber has admited recent contacts with Barcelona, although it would only have been a first sounding out. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Gómez, who has a contract with Stuttgart until 2012, could this summer be available for a transfer price around 23 million euro°.


Watch a video of Gomez:




Read more:
Contact with German international Gomez
Last summer's search for a striker
Looking for a central defender

Ribery confirms Barcelona interest

Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona (read more here), Bayern Munich wing attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (25) is quoted as saying in an interview with German sports weekly paper Sport Bild that he knows about the interest:

"I know that Barcelona wants me. I use to talk regularly with my agent. I feel honoured but at this moment I'm only thinking about Bayern.

I feel very comfortable at this club although it's true that I have said that I don't see myself staying until 2011 when my contract expires because many clubs are interested to sign me. There have already been offers by Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City. And it wasn't me who forced them to move."

In an interview with Munich tabloid TZ, Ribery said: "At this moment I'm not thinking about a transfer. I feel very good in Munich, the people like me, I like the fans, there's a good atmosphere among the players, so everything is fine. I don't know what cen happen in the summer but now I'm only thinking about what we can win with the team this season. I'm interested in nothing else.

But when people start speculating about my future, I can't do anything about that, that's not my fault. There are a lot of European clubs I dream of. But I repeat: I feel excellent in Munich. I have a contract until 2011. Everyone treats me and my family well. I feel at home here. What will happen next season, nobody knows. It's far too early to talk about that. I sure won't worry about my own future. We'll see..."

Asked about the presumed interest of AC Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona, Ribéry said last week in an interview with French paper Le Monde: "So Barça is interested? (laughs) All the clubs you're mentioning make you dream but I feel very good at Bayern. I have a contract with the club until 2011. Everyone is good towards me and my German is getting better. I feel at home. On the other hand, I cannot stay indifferent when those big clubs ask for me. We will see what will happen... "

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain is convinced that Ribéry could be the missing piece on the left wing. Bayern would have accepted that the Frenchman will probably leave this summer and the German club will start listening to offers soon. Because Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer wouldn't be pleased with the way Real Madrid is acting on the transfer market, he would prefer to sell Ribéry to Barcelona.

Read more:
Ribery and Lahm approached by Begiristain
Manchester United forward Tevez offered
Ribery or Gourcuff to replace Henry next summer

Ribery and Lahm approached by Begiristain

German sports weekly paper Sport Bild unconfirmedly claims that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain travelled to Munich at the beginning of this month to speak with two Bayern Munich players.

Begiristain would have sounded out Bayern Munich wing attacker and French international Franck Ribéry (25) and Bayern Munich full back defender and German international Philipp Lahm (25) about a possible transfer to Barcelona in the summer.

Those meetings would be the reason why both players have started pressuring their club over the past days about buying quality players so the team can compete for the Champions League. Ribéry and Lahm, who would cost 35 and 25 million euro° respectively, would try to force their way out.

Asked about the issue, Bayern Munich officials would have said to the paper that they haven't received any formal offer yet while Lahm nor his entourage denied having met with Begiristain.

Read more:
Talks with Bayern on Lahm reopened
Manchester United forward Tevez offered
Ribery was on top of Guardiola's wish list

Contact with German international Gomez

German weekly sports paper Sport Bild claims that Barcelona is interested in Stuttgart forward and German international Mario Gómez (22).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain had a positive meeting with Gómez' agent Uli Ferber last month.

New Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola would go and watch the player next week at the European championship in Austria and Switzerland.

In a reaction to the paper, the agent admitted the contacts: "Yes, they have contacted me. Mario is also in Barcelona a well-known player. They are interested but we didn't really negotiate yet because of the European championship."

Gómez, whose contract with Stuttgart expires in 2012, has a Spanish father and the double German-Spanish nationality and is a true Barcelona fan. Sport Bild claims Stuttgart plans to hold on to the striker and will certainly not let him go for a transfer fee below 30 million euro°.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Gómez is indeed one of the centre forward Barcelona is looking at. Because the German was last year already close to joining Barcelona, the negotiations can be picked up where they were left. Last year there would already have been a pre-agreement on a four-year deal.

Asked about the rumours surrounding him, Gómez said yesterday at a press conference that he's not thinking about at transfer right now: "Before the European championship I already said it and I can only repeat it: I will not speak and not even think about the issue. The Euro is too important for me and I cannot be busy with other things. I won't speak about club matters until the end of the tournament."

Read more:

Boca president reveals contact with Palacio

Stuttgart defender on the list

How things stand: Centre forward

Bayern not planning to let Lucio go

Bayern Munich central defender Lúcio (29) has said in an interview with Munich tabloid TZ that some people misunderstood the rumours linking him with Barcelona and that nothing has been signed yet. The Brazilian international nevertheless says his dream is to play in Spain: "An offer from a club like Barcelona is the biggest thing for every player. If a concrete offer comes, I would want to go. I know it wouldn't be easy to leave this club but every problem has a solution. I think that a transfer could also be to the advantage of Bayern."

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told in an interview with German weekly sports paper Sport Bild that the club doesn't want to let go top players like Lúcio: "It's a known fact that he has a contract until 2010 and we don't plan to let him leave before that date."

(read everything on the Lucio transfer story here)