TheNewsGuru

Tag: Barca

  • Why I want to be Barca president again – Laporta

    Why I want to be Barca president again – Laporta

    Joan Laporta is ready to take charge at Barcelona for a second time.

    Laporta was the president between 2003 and 2010, overseeing Barcelona’s most successful ever period, and his affection for the club has seen him lead an impassioned campaign to return to the highest position at the Camp Nou.

    “Because I love Barcelona,” Laporta responded when asked why he was running again. “I like challenges and this is the most important in my life right now.

    “Sure I made mistakes [in first spell], but I prefer to remember the good times. I learned from mistakes and that experience will help me to not repeat them. I do not intend to look in the rear-view mirror, I am very focused on what to do from the 24th [of January].

    “I have very good memories of the past, things turned out very well. Excuse me for remembering only the good. From the bad, [I aim to] learn and correct it.”

    Laporta was a vocal critic of former president Josep Maria Bartomeu throughout his presidency.

    “I already said in 2015 that I did not trust the people who were going to run the club nor their management model. We left such a good legacy – they wanted to take advantage of it so much but they didn’t make the appropriate adjustments.”

  • Man City defender agrees terms with Barca

    Man City defender agrees terms with Barca

    Manchester City defender Eric Garcia has agreed terms with Barcelona.

    Garcia turned down the opportunity to extend his contract with City and is said to have agreed personal terms for a five-year-contract with the Catalans.

    Barcelona will first have to reach an agreement with the Premier League giants in order to see the deal materialise – as City rejected their previous offer of £9million last summer.

    Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports Barcelona are keen to complete the deal during the January transfer window.

    However, should they fail to reach an economically viable agreement with City, Garcia could leave for free from June 30, 2021.

    As it stands, Garcia has played just 200 minutes of Premier League football this term – despite establishing himself as a mainstay in Pep Guardiola’s team at the end of last season.

  • Blame me for Eibar goal – Barca defender

    Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo put his hands up after their 1-1 draw with Eibar.

    The Basque side’s goal came from a Araujo mistake that Kike Garcia made the most of.

    The centre-back spoke about his slip-up afterwards and took full responsibility.

    “It’s a shame that we didn’t take the three points,” he said in a post-match interview.

    “It was a very quick piece of play and I didn’t see that their striker was so close to me.

    “We play a high line, so losing the ball where I did is dangerous. But, we do take that risk.

    “You can’t make such errors and I take responsibility.”

  • Barca presidential candidate rejects Xavi as coach

    Barca presidential candidate rejects Xavi as coach

    Barcelona presidential candidate Xavi Vilajoana has questioned the hype around Al Sadd coach Xavi.

    Xavi has already turned down the job at Barca and is part of rival Victor Font’s ticket.

    But Vilajoana insists Xavi is unproven as a coach, telling Marca: “Xavi as a player was one of the icons of this club and he deserves my utmost admiration.

    “But once the football stage is over, other paths open up. He has made his way as a coach in a minor league. He’s doing a good job, but Barça is the greatest in the world and nobody has the magic wand in any position.

    “I am in favour of giving opportunities to the great icons of the club who want to return to work at Barça. Always in those positions in which they have had experience, but they have to earn it like any other.”

    He added: “I will not be a president looking for names. I am looking for competence, talent, experience…”

  • Lionel Messi admits MLS ambition

    Lionel Messi admits MLS ambition

    Barcelona star Lionel Messi has left the door open to playing in the USA.

    The Argentine’s Barcelona contract expires at the end of the current campaign, leaving him free to talk to clubs about a transfer from January 1, but he’s not thinking beyond the current season for now.

    “I’ve always said that I’d like to experience the United States’ league,” Messi told La Sexta. “But that’s not for now.

    “I’m not thinking about how the season will end. It wouldn’t be good for me to say today what I’m going to do, and I don’t know either. I don’t know if I’m going to leave or not. But if I go I want to leave in the best way.

    “I’d like to return to live in this city and work at the club. Barcelona are much bigger than any player. I hope the president who comes in will do things well.”

  • AC Milan equal 72-year-old Barca goal record

    AC Milan equal 72-year-old Barca goal record

    AC Milan’s superb form in Serie A this season has seen the club write themselves into the history books following their 3-2 victory against Lazio on Wednesday, as Stefano Pioli’s side continue to establish their serious Scudetto bona-fides.

    The Rossoneri have been among the pacesetters in the Italian top flight, with serious daylight already between the top two of them and rivals Inter, and the rest of the chasing pack, including incumbent title holders Juventus.

    The Bianconeri’s midweek defeat to Fiorentina on Tuesday meant that, heading into their last match ahead of Christmas, Pioli’s side remained the only unbeaten outfit across Europe’s top five leagues.

    With their win at San Siro, they added another notch to their cap for the 2020-21 campaign, becoming the first side for over 70 years to score two-plus goals in at least 15 consecutive games over a single calendar year across the same clutch of competitions.

    Goal

  • Barca players unhappy with Messi wage negotiations

    Barca players unhappy with Messi wage negotiations

    Barcelona’s players are unhappy with skipper Lionel Messi over his decision to negotiate his wage reduction separately from the rest of the squad.

    The Argentine is reluctant to lower his salary from his €50m yearly wages because he intends not to renew his contract with Barcelona beyond June 30, 2021 and, therefore, the payment reduction cannot be deferred. A situation which is in contrast with his teammates.

    “There is an unhappiness in the staff with Messi for negotiating on his own.

    “The salary reduction is going to be applied to him in a different way and that is going to mount a schism,” revealed Okdiario’s Eduardo Inda on El Chiringuito about the situation.

    It’s claimed Messi has now decided to leave Barca when his contract expires in June.

  • Agent reveals Barca meeting with Shkodran Mustafi

    Agent reveals Barca meeting with Shkodran Mustafi

    The agent of Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has confirmed talks with Barcelona.

    His contract is set to expire in June next year meaning it is in Arsenal’s best interest to move him on in January to ensure they get a fee for him.

    The 28-year-old has previously played in Serie A and La Liga, although a move to Germany would appeal to Mustafi, who has never played in the Bundesliga.

    But Barcelona have stolen a march on any potential rival for the defender’s signature, with his agent confirming he has visited the Camp Nou to thrash out a deal.

    Mustafi’s agent Emre Ozturk was recently pictured on Instagram at Barcelona’s stadium. The post was entitled “ready for meeting”.

    Ozturk told Spox: “I’m not in Barcelona because of Yusuf Demir, but because of Shkodran Mustafi from Arsenal, whom we also represent.”

  • I would never have rejected Real Madrid – Rivaldo

    I would never have rejected Real Madrid – Rivaldo

    World Cup winner Rivaldo admits he would’ve accepted an offer from Real Madrid.

    Rivaldo had a great relationship in attack for Brazil with Ronaldo Nazario, who he wanted to play alongside at club level.

    “If I had been up top with Ronaldo at Real Madrid, we would have been a fearsome duo,” Rivaldo told Betfair.

    “We already showed it when we played with Brazil. To have more time to develop that chemistry we had at club level would have made us even more lethal.

    “Defences would have feared us, no matter which team we played for. That summer [of 2002] Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid after Los Blancos took an interest in me, so if we had managed to join together, it would have been incredible.”

    Rivaldo admits that if he had crossed the divide though, he would have received criticism similar to what Luis Figo experienced two years prior.

    “I would never have turned down Real Madrid just because I played for Barcelona, even though I have a great relationship with Barcelona and they will always be my club in Europe,” Rivaldo said.

    “I know perfectly well that if I had signed for Real Madrid, it would have been a similar case to that of Figo, but in the end it didn’t happen.”

  • Truth is I felt very bad last summer, Messi reveals

    Truth is I felt very bad last summer, Messi reveals

    Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has lifted the lid on his failed transfer demand over the summer.

    Messi attempted to force a move away, with Manchester City waiting to take him off Barca’s hands, but had a transfer request rejected by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu at the time.

    The Argentine eventually withdrew his demand and committed to Barca before the LaLiga season kicked off.

    In an interview to be broadcast in full on December 27, Messi said RAC1’s El Mon: “The truth is that today I’m fine.

    “It’s true that I had a very bad time in the summer. It came from before. What happened before the summer, how the season ended, the burofax and all that … Then I dragged it out a bit at the beginning of the season.

    “But today I am fine and I find myself wanting to fight seriously for everything that lies ahead, excited.

    “I know that the club is going through a difficult time, at the club and team level, and everything that surrounds Barcelona is becoming difficult but I’m looking forward to things.”