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Tag: Barcelona

  • UEFA to sanction Barcelona, PSG , others for Breach of Financial Fair Play

    UEFA to sanction Barcelona, PSG , others for Breach of Financial Fair Play

    Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain,  Juventus, and seven other club sides in Europe will be sanctioned by UEFA for non-compliance with Financial Fair Play in the 2020/2021 campaign.

    The season in which the irregularities regarding economic control were committed coincides with the arrival and explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to the analysis done by UEFA about 20 teams including Arsenal and Marseille were included in the list

    But as things stand, the final accounts for many of these 20 teams are yet to be filed with UEFA, and once done, their situation might as well change.

    The case with the likes of PSG, Barcelona, and Juventus, however, is extremely different.

    PSG and Barcelona are the two teams said to be in more danger as they are in full legal proceedings against UEFA along with Real Madrid due to the entire Super League issue.

    At the moment, both Barcelona and Juventus are said to be refusing to negotiate with UEFA.

    However, UEFA has stated that the ongoing 2022-23 season is going to be the last campaign that will run within the existing FFP rules. From 2023, the governing body will introduce a new set of rules to set a cap on spending a percentage of their income on player salaries, transfers, and agent fees.

  • Aubameyang responds to Chelsea interest

    Aubameyang responds to Chelsea interest

    Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has given a blunt response after being asked about Chelsea’s interest in his services.

    Reports in Spain claim Barcelona need to sell at least one of Aubameyang and Memphis Depay to help balance their whirlwind finances.

    In response, the 33-year-old simply stated, via BarcaCentre: “I have nothing to say.”

    It is believed that Aubameyang would be reluctant to leave Cataluyna, having just arrived from Arsenal in January.

    Nonetheless, Chelsea are persisting in talks with Barcelona over a potential £21m transfer.

  • UEFA omits Oshoala from Ballon d’Or award finalist

    UEFA omits Oshoala from Ballon d’Or award finalist

    The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, has removed Super Falcons and Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala, from the finalist of the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

     

    UEFA announced Beth Mead, Lena Oberdorf and Alexia Putellas as the final three contenders in the running for the 2022 UEFA Women’s Player of The Year accolade.

     

    Last week Oshoala was named in a 20-woman list of nominees for the 2022 Women’s Ballon d’Or, making her the first-ever African woman to achieve the feat.

     

    The Barcelona Femini woman’s nomination comes after she was named the CAF Women’s Player of The Year for a record fifth time last month, surpassing fellow countrywoman Perpetua Nkwocha’s four awards.

    UEFA omits Oshoala from Ballon d’Or award finalist
    Asisat Oshoala

     

    The Lagos-born is the only African, male or female, to win the award such a number of times.

     

    Last season, Oshoala was at her very best, despite her playing time being blighted by injuries. On the occasions she played, she was always on with her scoring boots, firing Barca to the domestic league title.

     

    Despite missing about seven weeks due to injury last season, Oshoala finished as the Spanish topflight league’s top scorer with Barcelona Femeni, netting 20 goals in 19 games, tied with Madrid CFF’s Geyse Ferreira.

     

    The feat earned her the Pichichi, again the first time an African woman would be winning the award.

     

    Though Barca fell to perennial rivals Lyon in the Women’s Champions League final, it was a success for the year Nigerian striker, who first burst onto the scene in 2014, leading Nigeria’s women’s U-20 side to the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada against Germany.

     

    However, the Falcons striker did not make the final list which was whittled down to just three names ahead of next week’s award ceremony in Istanbul.

     

    Arsenal attacker Mead is rewarded for an impressive showing at the Women’s Euros, where she was crowned Player of the Tournament after leading the scoring charts in England’s triumph on home soil.

     

    Oberdorf won the Young Player of the Tournament award after helping Germany to another final, having also played a crucial role in Wolfsburg winning the domestic double last season.

     

    Spain star Putellas was absent from the tournament through injury, but the 2021 Ballon d’Or Feminin winner enjoyed the most prolific season of her club career thanks to 34 goals in Barcelona’s clean sweep of Spanish trophies in 2021-22.

  • Two new signings to leave Barca this month

    Two new signings to leave Barca this month

    Two new Barcelona players Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie could be on the move out of the La Liga club.

    ESPN says Christensen and Kessie have clauses in their contracts to terminate their Barcelona deals before making their debut.

    The Bosman duo both agreed the option to rip up their contracts if the club failed to register them for LaLiga this month.

    Barcelona have so far been unable to register any new signings due to a disagreement with LaLiga over the value of the ‘levers’ deployed, aka assets such as TV rights sold to private companies.

    It is thought both Kessie and Christensen do not want to end their Barcelona stay so early even though both stand to miss the weekend’s LaLiga opener versus Rayo Vallecano.

  • I know I hurt many Bayern fans – Lewandowski reveals

    I know I hurt many Bayern fans – Lewandowski reveals

    Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski admits he has hurt Bayern Munich fans and hopes he can fix his relationship with them

    He is happy with his decision to sign for Barca, as he explained in a recent interview shortly after the 6-0 win over Pumas.

    Lewandowski is, however, slightly sad about the manner in which things ended with Bayern Munich.

    “I know that hurt a lot of fans,” he told Sport1. “I can understand that and now I just apologise for that. At that time it was important and necessary for me to make it clear that I was ready for a change.

    “At the end of the day, we are all human. After 12 years in Germany, it was clear to me that my time was over. I wanted to make that clear, and of course it was not easy for Bayern to accept a sale during this phase.

    “It was a difficult situation for everyone involved and we had to find the best solution. I needed this change, this move to another country, to another club. I feel like a child who has a new toy.”

    Some Bayern fans yelled pro-Real Madrid slogans like ‘Hala Madrid’ at the striker as he left the Bavarian’s training camp when he returned to collect his things.

    “Yes, I heard that, and I laughed,” he said. “But there were also some people shouting my name. That was really nice.

    “In the last few weeks I have also met some fans in the street who have expressed their understanding for my situation and wished me all the best.”

  • La Liga : Ansu Fati begs Messi to return to Barcelona

    La Liga : Ansu Fati begs Messi to return to Barcelona

    Spanish and Barcelona forward, Ansu Fati, has pleaded with Lionel Messi to return to the Nou camp, saying that he deserves a better ending.

    Fati who has been likened to Messi for having a similar style of play wants his role model and mentor to end his career at Barcelona.

    Fati said Messi, who currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, deserves a better end in his football career.

    Spanish and Barcelona forward, Ansu Fati, has pleaded with Lionel Messi to return to the Nou camp, saying that he deserves a better ending.

    Fati who has been likened to Messi for having a similar style of play wants his role model and mentor to end his career at Barcelona.

    The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner endured a difficult debut campaign in Paris, scoring just 11 goals in 34 matches in all competitions.

    However, his former teammate Fati has now pleaded with Messi to return to Barca shortly, insisting that he is the best player in history.

    “Messi? Yes, I would like him back,” Fati told TV3, as per 90min.

    “He deserves a better end in Barcelona, he is the best player in history.”

    Fati who also has an African root from Mali has been tipped to become a great footballer and Balon dOr winner in the future.

  • EPL: Dutch forward, Memphis Depay set to join Manchester United

    EPL: Dutch forward, Memphis Depay set to join Manchester United

    Dutch forward,  Memphis Depay looks set to stage a return to English Premier League side, Manchester United for next season’s campaign.

    Soccer agent, Gerard Romero said  Barcelona has received two bids under €20 million from Premier League clubs for Depay.

    The possibility of Depay, 28, returning to Man United ‘has always been of interest’.

    Man United’s Premier League rival, Tottenham Hotspur, is also said to be interested in Depay.

    The arrival of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha may affect Depay’s chances of regular football at the Spanish side hence his willingness to leave.

    The Dutch star scored seven goals in 53 appearances during his ill-fated first spell at Man United between 2015 and 2017.

    He has not impressed at Barcelona since he joined the LaLiga giants from Lyon last year.

    Depay is also trying to fancy his chances of making it to the Worldcup in Qatar to represent his country The Netherlands.

    Memphis Depay, also known simply as Memphis, is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team.

     

  • Ousmane Dembele agrees new 2-year Barca contract

    Ousmane Dembele agrees new 2-year Barca contract

    La Liga side, Barcelona have confirmed that Ousmane Dembele has agreed a new two-year contract to stay at Camp Nou.

    The five-year contract that Dembele signed when he joined Barca from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 expired at the end of June.

    Talks have continued over a new deal and the France international has now agreed terms on a fresh contract, keeping him at Barca until the end of the 2023-24 season.

    That Dembele remains a Barca player at all is a complete turnaround from the situation in January.

    The club insisted the winger would be sold or leave on a free transfer at the end of the campaign after the 25-year-old turned down a contract offer.

    Barca revealed he will sign his new deal at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper later on Thursday.

    Barcelona president Joan Laporta had revealed on Wednesday that Dembele’s new contract will be confirmed this week.

    Dembele has made 150 appearances for Barca and came to the fore last season, setting up 13 goals in LaLiga – more than any other player in the Spanish top flight.

    The Blaugrana also reached an agreement to sign Brazil winger Raphinha from Leeds United for a reported fee of €($) 67 million. Raphinha arrived in Spain for a medical on Wednesday.

  • Lewandowski reaches personal terms with Barca

    Lewandowski reaches personal terms with Barca

    Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is ready to put pen to paper on a £175,000-per-week deal at Barcelona.

    Mundo Deportivo says the 33-year-old will sign a three-year contract with the Catalans worth £27m.

    Paris Saint-Germain had threatened to hijack the deal at the eleventh hour, but the Polish superstar is said to be loyal to the LaLiga giants.

    The move will speak the end of Lewandowski’s eight years at Bayern Munich, during which time he has scored as astonishing 344 times in 374 appearances.

    Bayern are demanding €40m from Barca to sell the veteran.

  • Oliver Khan blasts Lewandowski for opting to leave Bayern

    Former Germany and current Bayern Munich top manager, Oliver Kahn has hit out at Robert Lewandowski after the player publicly announced his desire to leave the club.

    Bayern Munich are not ready to let go of the forward but Lewandowski has insisted he would be leaving the club amid interest from Spanish giant Barcelona.

    Recall that Barca have made the Polish striker their top target this summer.

    Lewandowski himself has now said: “My story with Bayern has come to an end, I cannot imagine further good cooperation,” he said. “I hope they will not stop me (from leaving) just because they can. A transfer is the best solution for everyone.”

    But Bayern director, Kahn was left furious with what had been said and responded in damning fashion.

    Kahn said: “I can’t tell you why Robert chose this way to communicate his situation. Public statements like that don’t get you anywhere. Robert should know what he has at Bayern. Appreciation is not a one-way street.”

    Robert Lewandowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and is the captain of the Poland national team.