Four centre-backs no longer priority list

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona wants to sign a young left centre-back who has at least five good years left and could play alongside Barcelona central defender Gerard Piqué.

Several players who had the necessary qualities and with whom Barcelona has already been negotiating in the past, would for a reason of age have been excluded from the list of priority targets, among which AS Roma central defender and Brazilian international Juan (30) and Inter Milan central defender and Romanian international Cristian Chivu (28 - picture).

Villarreal central defender Gonzalo Rodríguez (25) would on the other hand be considered to be too injury-prone, while Liverpool central defender and Danish international Daniel Agger (24), who has also been followed, isn't an option anymore after he recently signed a renewal with the English Premier League club.

Read more:
Barcelona interested in Roma defender Juan
Chivu unlikely but not impossible
Barcelona interested in Liverpool defender Agger

Chivu will stay with Inter

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to Barcelona (read more here), Inter Milan central defender and Romanian international Cristian Chivu (27) has said at a press conference that he doesn't think about leaving Inter this summer:

"It is fantastic to hear that Pep Guardiola likes the way I play, but the truth is that at this moment my plan is to stay at Inter. I do not have news from the club or from my agent that Barcelona has made an official move for me. In the end it's gonna be José Mourinho who will decide and from the statements he made I think that the new coach counts on me. I am really looking forward to working with him."

Read more:

Contact with Inter on Chivu
Barcelona will offer Eto'o in Chivu deal

Deco chooses Chelsea over Inter

Chivu unlikely but not impossible

Asked about the rumours linking the player with Barcelona (read more here), Ioan Becali, the agent of Inter Milan central defender and Romanian international Cristian Chivu (27) , did not rule out a move in an interview with Italian radio station Teleradiostereo:

"Chivu has just won the league and he enjoyed a great season with Inter, so it’s unlikely he will leave. And Chivu is a player which Mourinho likes a lot which makes me think that the Inter wouldn’t want to let him go either. However, in football, you can never say never and if Barcelona put down a 20 million euro° offer, then we would open talks with them."

Read more:

Contact with Inter on Chivu

Barcelona will offer Eto'o in Chivu deal

Chivu not planning to leave Inter

Chivu not planning to leave Inter

Asked about the rumours linking him with a summer move to Barcelona (read more here), Inter Milan centre and left back defender and Romanian international Cristian Chivu (27) said to his club's official website that he had no intention to leave Inter already after one season: "I never listen to transfer rumours, not even by mistake. I'm an Inter player and I am very happy and proud to be a part of this club and of this great squad."

Read more:

Contact with Inter on Chivu

Barcelona will offer Eto'o in Chivu deal

How things stand: Central defenders

Barcelona will offer Eto'o in Chivu deal

British broadcaster Channel 4 claims that Barcelona will tempt Italian champions Inter Milan to sell central defender Cristian Chivu by offering Barcelona forward and Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o (27) in exchange (read more here).

Barcelona hopes this offer could make Inter change their mind about not wanting to sell the Romanian international. Inter is one of the main candidates to take over Samuel Eto'o, who is valued at around 25 million euro°.

Read more:

Contact with Inter on Chivu

Inter offers 40 million euro for Eto'o

Materazzi to lead Barcelona defence

Contact with Inter on Chivu

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain has contacted Inter Milan to ask about the possibility to transfer Inter central defender and Romanian international Cristian Chivu (27) after it was confirmed that Barcelona central defender Gabriel Milito will be out between six and nine months after a knee injury. New Barcelona manager Josep Guardiole has asked for the player, who he already wanted to bring to Barcelona in 2003 (read more here), since he wants a defender with a good long ball.

Besides contacting with Inter, Barcelona has also reopened the communication with former Barcelona player Tente Sánchez, the representative of Chivu's agent Ioan Becali in Spain. Last summer, Chivu was one of the main transfer options for Barcelona, but the club in the end preferred to buy Zaragoza player Milito, with Chivu going from Roma to Inter.

The paper claims that Inter sports director Lele Oriali has proposed the transfer to José Mourinho, who would be close to become the Inter manager as of next season. Mourinho would have approved the transfer and has suggested that Inter could try to get players like Puyol, Xavi, Deco or Eto'o in exchange.

pep's opinion:
calcio defenders in spain have not been very succesful over the last years (thuram, zambrotta, cannavaro, samuel, etc) but he could be the exception, not being the typical italian defender. if guardiola is looking for a new koeman, this could be him.

Read more:
Looking for a central defender
Which players are on Guardiola's list?
How things stand: central defenders

Which players are on Guardiola's list?

Catalan sports paper Sport, who today claims that future Barcelona manager Guardiola is already planning next season's squad for over one month, made on Wednesday an overview of the players Guardiola wants to stay or leave. Before we throw that one in the trash can, here it goes:

should stay: Valdés, Zambrotta, Milito, Márquez, Puyol, Sylvinho, Abidal, Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Messi, Bojan and Eto’o

can leave: Jorquera, Pinto, Thuram, Oleguer, Edmílson, Touré, Gudjohnsen, Ronaldinho, Henry, Giovani, Ezquerro

The same paper says today that Barcelona wants to listen to offers coming in for every player of the current squad, except for nine: Valdés, Milito, Puyol, Abidal, Touré, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Bojan.

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Guardiola has explicitly asked for Bayern Munich full back defender Philipp Lahm (24).

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Guardiola thinks that Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor (24) could be a key player in his new project. Barcelona did not yet make any move for the Togolese player but, despite his comment that he wants to stay with Arsenal (read more here), Barcelona will do everything that is possible to bring Adebayor to Barcelona. Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o (27), who has a close relationship with Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, could be included in the deal (read more here).

And British tabloid The Sun claims that the manager change in Barcelona could lead to Barcelona trying to bring in Liverpool central midfielder Xabi Alonso (26), for whom Juventus is planning a 20 million euro° bid.

During the Barcelona presidential elections back in 2003, Guardiola was the candidate to become the new Barcelona sports director if Lluís Bassat would win the elections. Bassat ended second (behind Laporta) but El Mundo Deportivo digged up the list of players that Guardiola planned to transfer at that time (having chosen Ronald Koeman, then Ajax manager, as the new coach), which could be an indication of the kind of players he would like to bring in now:

Inter Milan central defender Iván Córdoba, Zaragoza central defender Roberto Ayala (then Valencia), Inter central and left back defender Cristian Chivu (then Ajax), Milan defensive midfielder Emerson (then Roma), Liverpool winger Harry Kewell (then Leeds United) and Atlético Madrid winger José Antonio Reyes (then Sevilla).

Read more:
Adebayor new name on centre forward list
Deal with Lahm
Ribery says 'non, merci'