A look at the coming transfer summer (1)

Last weekend Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo gave a global analysis of the possible transfer activity in the summer.

With relation to the outward transfers, the paper states it is clear three players will leave at the end of the season: Italian full back Gianluca Zambrotta (31), French central defender Lilian Thuram (36) and Basque left winger Santiago Ezquerro (31). Zambrotta will return to Italy (Milan or Inter), while the expiring contracts of Thuram and Ezquerro won’t be renewed, so that both are already looking for another club.

What will happen to the three other players whose contracts run out in June, namely Spanish goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto (32), Brazilian left back Sylvinho Mendes (33) and Brazilian defensive midfielder José Edmílson (31) is still unsure. In the coming months Barcelona will decide if the players will be offered a contract renewal.

A delicate issue is the situation of Mexican central defender Rafael Márquez (29). Barcelona has some very interesting offers on the table for him and it is believed that in the end it will be the player himself who will decide if he will stay or go.

The big question mark however remains Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho (27). Barcelona has postponed the decision about his future at the club until June.


(tomorrow you’ll find here the second part of the analysis, concerning the incoming transfers)

Koeman owes Barcelona

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Valencia at the last moment raised the salary of manager Ronald Koeman (44), who joined the Spanish club in October last year, to 9 million euro gross for two and and a half year in exchange for including a buyout clause in the contract. Valencia would have been afraid that Barcelona would come after Koeman at the end of this seaon.

Gerrard flirting with Barcelona

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that several persons from the environment of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard (27) have let Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain know that the player would love to play for Barcelona.

Gerrard wouldn’t feel comfortable anymore in Liverpool and in the Premier League and would like to try something new. Because the player dislikes the Italian league, he recently rejected serious offers from Inter and Juventus. The English international would prefer to end up in the Spanish league and is attracted the most by Barcelona, because of the way they play, because of the players who play there and because of manager Frank Rijkaard.

Two years renewal for Jorquera

Like the player himself announced in earlier Febuary (read more here), Barcelona goalkeeper Albert Jorquera (28), whose current contract expires in June, signed a new deal with Barcelona. The player, who is at the moment recovering from a knee injury, accepted an offer to stay at the club for two more years, until 2010.

Jorquera told the club's television channel Barça TV that he was very happy and that his first choice has always been to continue. Barcelona president Joan Laporta stressed, apart from the football qualities of the goalkeeper, that he's a great person: "He brings a lot to the club, he gives the squad stability and serenity and knows at any moment what he has to do."

Albert Jorquera entered the Barcelona youth academy in 1994 at the age of fifteen. Since the 2003-2004 season the goalkeeper is a member of the first team.

Ronaldinho brother denies exit

In an interview with Catalan radio station Ona FM, Roberto de Assis, brother and agent of Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (27), denied all exit rumours: “The press is creating things, while our idea is to continue and we have said that a thousand times. And the board says the same thing.”

Roberto made clear his brother has never thought about a transfer, that he wants to stay a long time and that he feels supported by the fans: “The most important thing is the passion and the love of the people and that’s not something you can forget about overnight.”