Deal on Argentinian international Palacio close

Catalan sports site Info Esports claims that Barcelona is close to reach an agreement on the transfer of Boca Juniors forward and Argentinian international Rodrigo Palacio (26) (read more here).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain would have closed a deal with Palacio's agent, Roberto Depietri. Boca wants the player to stay until the end of the Clausura competition (last match on June 15th) and the Copa Libertadores (final on July 2nd). The transfer could be announced in the coming days.

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that the deal is totally agreed upon by all parties and that it has been negotiated by Barcelona external adviser Joan Patsy. Palacio, who has been close to joining Barcelona several times in the last years, would sign a contract that will link him to Barcelona for the next four seasons.

As and Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claim that Boca Juniors had initially been asking a transfer fee of 20 million euro, with the latter suggesting that the Argentinian club was expected to accept an offer of 15 million euro. As reports that there was an agreement for 12 million euro° but that Boca now wants to add five million euro more to that price. Info Esports claims that Boca Juniors will receive 17 million euro° for the transfer of Argentinian international Palacio.

Read more:

Offer for Boca Juniors striker Palacio

Could Guardiola be the emergency solution?

After Saturday's defeat, people really started to believe that Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard (45) could well be replaced before the end of the season and that the game against Schalke tonight could be decisive (read more here and here). Because there are only two months left and because he already knows the ins and outs of the club, the only possible successor who has been put forward by the press is Barcelona B manager Josep Guardiola (37).

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo reports that a lot of Barcelona officials don't like the idea of Guardiola taking over with a few months left because they are afraid of burning him in the last two months of the season, what could very well be the case if things would not change under his command. Others have another vision and indicate that this could be a chance for Guardiola to get to know the players, what would allow him to make decisions in the summer. That is, if Guardiola would not be seen as provisional solution. Barcelona site Pelikano indeed states that Guardiola would not be prepared to be a temporary coach, but would want to change things drastically, having a long-term perspective.

Catalan sports site Info Esports claims that Guardiola was already sounded to take over after last December's defeat against Real Madrid, but that the manager rejected the offer cause he didn't feel ready for the job. Guardiola wants to gain more experience and his only wish now is to finish the season with Barcelona B, who will most probably play the promotion play off to return to the Segunda División B. Madrid sports tabloid As even claims that Guardiola's agent, Josep María Orobitg, last summer negotiated to include an explicit clause in the contract allowing Guardiola to reject an offer by the Barcelona board to coach the first team.

Ronaldinho is becoming a major problem (2)

Last week's incidents (read more in the first part of this contribution) seem a public expression of the deteriorated relations between Ronaldinho and Barcelona.

Catalan sports paper Sport claimed last week that the tecnical staff would have lost patience with Ronaldinho's unprofessional behaviour. Manager Frank Rijkaard's statements during a Saturday press conference, in which he didn't defend the player anymore - like he used to do before - against critical questions, seemed to confirm this. Although Rijkaard changed his tone again after last night's win over Valladolid: "Ronaldinho didn't let me down, I'm with him. I cannot be disappointed with him, since he has gven a lot to the club and the team."

Different sources have been reporting that the Barcelona board has taken the decison to listen to offers coming in for the player. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo even says that some board members think the Brazilian shouldn't play ever again for the club. Madrid tabloid As claims that especially Barcelona president Joan Laporta is fed up with the player and is constantly trying to leak stories to the press, aiming to discredit the player and make it that way possible to sell Ronaldinho, without too much critical comments from the fans, as soon as an interested club comes knocking.

But the latter seems a problem. Catalan sports site Info Esports claims that of course no club is willing to pay the 125 million euro (°) buyout clause, but that no club is at this moment even considering to negotiate with Barcelona about a transfer. And the three main candidates to transfer Ronaldinho - Chelsea, AC Milan and Inter Milan - indeed seem to have stopped their efforts to bring in the player, like all three have explicitly admitted in the last weeks (read more here, here and here).

(this is the second part of this contribution, the first part was published earlier today, the third and last part will be published tomorrow)