How things stand: Attacking midfielders

(at the end of the season, Barça Transfer Zone looks forward to the coming transfer summer making an analysis for each position, in part 6 we look at the attacking midfielders)

2007-2008

Looking at the numbers, Xavi was clearly the central figure in this department over the almost past season. The three pairs who played the most this years in official games are Xavi-Iniesta (17 starts), Xavi-Deco (16 starts) and Xavi-Gudjohnsen (15 starts).

Out

Iniesta (24) will certainly stay and although Xavi (28) has recently been linked with Chelsea, it can be expected that he won't leave either. Depending on the tactical choices of new Barcelona manager Guardiola, both players could be pulled back a line.

Deco (30) and Gudjohnsen (29) look like they're on their way out, although both players don't seem very enthusiastic about the idea. Especially Deco could play it hard and only leave under his conditions. Deco has been linked with Bayern, Milan, Inter, Juventus, Newcastle and Atlético Madrid. Gudjohnsen is rumoured to be on the lists of Portsmouth and Newcastle.

In

Many names are circling around for these positions but none of them is really sticking out at this moment. Players that have been mentioned are, amongst others, Cesc (Arsenal - 20), Diego (Bremen - 23), Aquilani (Roma - 23), Lampard (Chelsea - 29), Hleb (Arsenal - 27), Van der Vaart (Hamburg - 25) and Lucho (Porto - 27).

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 four Barcelona summer objectives (2)

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
2 - Central defender
(read yesterday's post here)

3 - Scoring midfielder
The Barcelona technical staff believes the squad has a lot of similar midfielders with a great technique and excellent passing qualities, but they think there's a lack of goal-scoring ability. Werder Bremen attacking midfielder Diego (23) is the favourite option to fill up this gap, although it looks like it's going to be a difficult race with some other European top clubs closely following the Brazilian international. The interest in Dinamo Zagreb midfielder and Croatian international Luka Modric (22) is diminishing.

4 - "Crack"
The probable exit of Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28), will make Barcelona go after a new "crack", a player who can please the fans and can be the motor of the revival. It's nevertheless unclear which player, who can deal with such a responsibility, will be available and economically affordable in the summer. Olympique Lyon forward Karim Benzema (20) is the dream target, but the French international just renewed his contract with Lyon and seems to be staying at least one more year in France (read more here).

(this is the second and last part of this contribution, the first part was published yesterday)

The search of Txiki (3) : Midfield

Yesterday 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.

In midfield Barcelona is looking for a defensive midfielder and a more dynamic player and has therefore contacted several candidates. Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso (26), who will be sold by his club in the summer, has also an offer from Atlético Madrid, but the player prefers Barcelona. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard (29) will only come if his former manager José Mourinho becomes the next Barcelona manager.

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas (20) is not a real option, although the fact that he could change his current agent in May for the agent of Thierry Henry, who has a good relationship with Barcelona, could be seen as a first move to make a future return possible. Sevilla midfielders Christain Poulsen (28) and Seydou Keita (28) are also on the Barcelona list, with the second having a transfer price disadvantage. If Barcelona midfielder Deco (30) leaves, Werder Bremen attacking midfielder Diego (23) could be the first option. Barcelona has already contacted the father and agent of the Brazilian international, who wants to leave Germany in the summer.

Although there are excellent reports about Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Luka Modric (22), the Croatian international played a bad game when Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain went to see him during Croatia-Holland in the beginning of February. Later this month he'll have a second chance in the game against Scotland. Begiristain already contacted with Dinamo Zagreb vice president Zdravko Mamic and with his brother Dinamo Zagreb sports director Zoran Mamic, the agent of the player. Zagreb would be asking 20 million euro.

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

Deco out? Diego in

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Werder Bremen playmaker Diego Ribas (22) is on top of the priority list in case Deco (30) would want to leave at the end of the season. The Brazilian international has been followed many times by Barcelona scouts, the last time during Ireland-Brazil on February 6th.