Rafinha dreaming of Barcelona

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that, if a transfer of Sevilla right back Dani Alves (24) or Bayern Munich full back Philipp Lahm (24) wouldn't be possible, the alternative to replace Gianluca Zambrotta (31) could well be Schalke 04 right back Rafinha (22). The Brazilian is quoted as saying: "Signing for Barcelona, since always one of my favourite clubs, would be dream come true."

The paper thinks the market value of the player, whose contract expires in 2011, would be between 10 and 16 million euro (°).

Ronaldinho agent stirs things up

In an interview with Brazilian sports site Globo Esporte, Roberto de Assís, brother and agent of Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28), said anything can happen at the end of this season and seems to suggest he would be willing to use the - since the so-called 'Webster ruling' famous - Article 17 of the FIFA transfer regulations, stating a player can leave after three year, having only to pay a compensation equalling the amount of the final years wages: "We know that there's a buyout clause of 125 million euro (°), but we also know of the existence of Article 17, which would make it possible to leave for far less." If the article is used, this would concretely mean Ronaldinho could leave Barcelona for about 16 million euro (°°).

Roberto, who says everything would change if Barcelona would win the Champions League, denied the rumour that he could use Porto Alegre, a club he owns, to transfer Ronaldinho to another club (read more here): "It's ridiculous to link Ronaldinho with Porto Alegre, a small second division team. His name should be linked with big clubs like Real Madrid or AC Milan without needing to pass by Porto Alegre." Adding that he doesn't want to exclude a transfer to Real Madrid, nor to any other club, mentioning the two Milan based teams.

Yesterday night, Roberto denied to Catalan radio station RAC 1 that he's planning to use Article 17 to dissolve Ronaldinho's contract with Barcelona: "I only replied when it was asked to me if I knew this legislation and of course I do." Rodrigo Sirico, the journalist of Globo Esporte who spoke with Roberto, nevertheless holds on to the first version and persists it was Ronaldinho's brother who brought up Article 17.

Roberto also said to RAC 1 there hasn't been any contact with Real Madrid. In an interview with Spanish television channel Cuatro, Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón denied that his club has any interest in Ronaldinho: "We consider that the players we have now in our squad are the best ones, so we don't have plans to change anything." In the coming days, Roberto will fly to Barcelona, where he could hold talks about the whole situation with Barcelona officials.

Meanwhile, Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that, of the many clubs following attentively the events surrounding Ronaldinho, English club Chelsea, who has been interested in the player for years and made an offer for him last summer, is at this moment the best placed team to bring in the Brazilian (read more here). Ronaldinho would have been discussed during a meeting on Tuesday between Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and player's agent Pini Zahavi, who has close relationships with Chelsea.

And to conclude: the rumour spread by different media since yesterday that Tottenham manager Juande Ramos would be interested in signing Ronaldinho is due to a misinterpretation of some quotes by the Spaniard in an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport.

Xavi is on the Chelsea list

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Chelsea is seriously considering an offer for Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández (28). A few years ago, former Chelsea manager José Mourinho tried a first time to bring the player to London. Iván Corretja, the agent of Xavi, then made clear that the player would like to retire with Barcelona and this idea probably hasn't change in the meantime (read more here).

In an attempt to convince the Spanish international, Chelsea would be offering Xavi a long-term contract until 2012. This offer could lead Barcelona to soon renew the player's contract until the same date. Xavi's current contract with Barcelona expires in 2010, having a buyout clause of 60 million euro (°) for foreign clubs and 150 million euro (°°) for Spanish clubs. British tabloid The Daily Mirror claims that Chelsea would make a 31,6 million euro (*) bid for Xavi, offering the player a weekly salary of 113 639 euro (**).

Sport reports that Chelsea is also interested in other players of the Barcelona squad, namely Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho (28) (read more here) and Portuguese midfielder Deco (30). Deco and Xavi would be the main candidates to replace Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard (29), who could be leaving the club in the summer.

Asked about the issue, Xavi's agent Iván Corretja made clear to British sports site Setanta Sports that he didn't receive a formal Chelsea offer for the player: "In the last few seasons I have had a few indirect enquiries about the player but that is normal in the world of football. Xavi is happy at Barça and has a deal for the next seasons, so the decision about a possible exit is Barcelona’s."

Crosas goes French / 16

Barcelona loan out Marc Crosas (20) told in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE that he's feeling good with Olympique Lyon. Although his ultimate dream is still to triumph with Barcelona, Crosas has found in the French champion a good alternative: "If I had to stay in a place that is not Barcelona, I would like to make a career here."

This is the fourth time in two weeks times that Crosas pronounces on his future and says he wouldn't mind staying with Lyon (read more here, here and here).

Cesc agent split monitored

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona is re-evaluating the situation of Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas (20) after the player has broken with his agent Joseba Díaz (read more here). The latter didn't have a good relation with Barcelona, and especially with sports director Txiki Begiristain, after Cesc's transfer to Arsenal in 2003.

Although the player's family and a big part of the Barcelona fans are very much in favour of a return to Catalunya, this seems very unlikely at the moment since the player is very comfortable with Arsenal and the transfer price of supposedly around 50 million euro (°) is not attainable for Barcelona. For possible future negotiations, the agent switch is nevertheless seen as a positive thing, with Mariano Aguilar, Iván Corretja and Ramon Sostres said to be amongst the candidates to replace Díaz. Cesc, who was in Spain for an international friendly on Wednesday, didn't want to pronounce on the issue to Spainish journalists: "I don't want to speak about this issue."

Meanwhile, Arsenal is reacting surprised to the agent split, just when a contract renewal deal with Cesc, whose current six years contract expires in 2012, seemed close. A spokesperson of the English club is quoted as saying that the news comes as a "tremendous surprise". Díaz, who also represents Arsenal players Manuel Almunia and Fran Mérida, has an excellent relationship with Arsenal manger Arsène Wenger.