All has been said. Other than that the amount mentioned by the BiasedMilanFan is absolutely ludicrous obviously. Barça would be mad offering more than 30/35 million, considering Thiago's age and all. He would be a good buy for Barça, but he's probably too important for Milan to let go. So it's only logical they aren't willing to do so unless he actually hands in a transfer request (which he probably won't do). But who knows. Although I do see a reason for him to want to leave (to reply to dostoevsky). Prizes. Let's be honest, Milan is obviously going up but Barcelona are not just no. 1 in Europe, but the best in the world. Currently, there isn't anything better out there. But he's getting a lot of deserved props in Milan so it would very much be understandable if he stays.

Linked to Nelson Oliveira, 20 young old Benfica forward.

Aint seen much of him, very young and only just back off various loans I believe.

Scored vs Zenit on Tuesday.

Watched Oliveira a bit this season and in the u-20 world cup, gotta say, I don't like the guy one bit, seems kind of like Ronaldo, dives a fair share and seems arrogant.

Albiceleste wrote:Watched Oliveira a bit this season and in the u-20 world cup, gotta say, I don't like the guy one bit, seems kind of like Ronaldo, dives a fair share and seems arrogant.

was about to write this.

VERY cr-ish.Dont think he fits Barca

Just a goal.com remour, wouldnt take it too seriously.

Jordi Alba transfer seems to be done and dusted.


-----------------valdes-------
-montoya-puyol-pique-alba----
------------------busquets-----
-----------xavi----------iniesta--
-----Cesc-------Messi-----Tello---

full la masia xi?

Albiceleste wrote:Jordi Alba transfer seems to be done and dusted

Don't think so. These are just rumours. Also I'm not sure if he is a good replacement for Abidal. There's been enough arguments about him before so...

It is Sport after all...

according to sport its done and dusted I meant

Sport publish so much shit. If it was Mundo Deportivo then there was a possibility, but Sport is as pro-Barça and publishing rubbish rumours as AS does for Madrid.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2012/03/22/2984536/bayern-munich-and-juventus-tracking-adriano-report


If true, as much as I like him, I am not sure I would be that upset. He to me is a very good leftback, but if he dont solve his injury issues it dont matter how good he is.

Buying two new leftbacks in the summer?

So it looks like Giuseppe Rossi is on his way out of Villarreal, I remember we were linked with him last summer along with Sanchez and we ended up with Alexis obviously.

Although his agent has said he would prefer a move back to Italy what do you guys think of the prospect of Rossi?

He could be available for around 20m, I think 20m is a good price for him and he's a great all around player.

Although he's still recovering from a cruciate knee injury that has kept him out of action since October last year. It would be a gamble to see if he will return to full form after being out for so long.

Won't we have more players then necessary for those positions with Affelay, Vila coming from injury and with Tello and Cuenca doing good?

Barcelona should focus on spending in defence and possibly midfield. If I was Zubi the only forward I would have looked into with the possibility of signing is Van Persie. He is world class and can contribute a lot to the Barcelona. And he isn't going to be overly expensive despite how good he is. That is if he doesn't sign an extension with Arsenal although this is looking likely as Arsenal are 3rd in EPL now. Other than that Barcelona have enough options up front as eelir said; Villa and Afellay coming back and Cuenca and Tello from the youth system. No need for more forwards.

Villa's 31 this year, Afellay doesn't suit Barca's system imo. He's more of a 4-2-3-1 player, not a 4-3-3.

mtfootball wrote:Afellay doesn't suit Barca's system

Is this why?

No, I don't think he is suited for Barcelona either. He is EPL type player imo. BUT he brings something new to the team. I'm not sure if that is good enough a reason to keep a player in your team though, especially considering he is always going to be a sub in Barcelona and he isn't that young.

Rossi....no thanks. Not even for 20m. Im not super impressed by him and only if we sell a forward do I see us buying one.

I dont get why people continue to say we should sign in midfield/lack depth in midfield...we are already way overloaded.

RVP?

Nope. To play what position? He wants to take up spaces not too different from Messi.

I don't rate Rossi, I'm happy we didn't waste a money on him in the summer. Now, when he will come back from long injury we don't sign him, not a chance. We have our injuried forward who will return from injury and is a lot better than average Rossi - David Villa. Hopefully press won't link us with Rossi, he will go to Italy.

Rossi will never go for 20 million. Villareal is in deep financial trouble they might let him go for 12

The Franchise wrote:RVP?

Nope. To play what position? He wants to take up spaces not too different from Messi.

Yeah, why would you ever want another Messi at a discounted rate

Get rid of Keita, Adriano and start to go full force trying to get a everyday starting CB since Puyol is seriously starting to dip in form. Plus Abidal might be done due to the surgery (animo!). Jonathan can take over Keita's role and also Thiago who needs to continue to develop. Affelay can also play midfield as well as wing, and Villa will be back. Also to note I wouldn't care if we sold Sanchez. Dude was not worth the money and has failed to impress imo.

So, that leaves us having to find an everyday CB and LB to replace Abidal and Puyol. Puyol becomes the super sub off the bench and starts ocasional match. It will be very hard to replace both of them. Also if Adriano goes to Juve then we also need to find a solid back up LB. Montaya is good enough to back up Alves imo

Spooony wrote:Rossi will never go for 20 million. Villareal is in deep financial trouble they might let him go for 12

President came out recently and said, he isnt going for anything less than 20.

danyjr wrote:

The Franchise wrote:RVP?

Nope. To play what position? He wants to take up spaces not too different from Messi.

Yeah, why would you ever want another Messi at a discounted rate

Yeah, that makes sense.

Because Messi is always taking games off so we need someone who can play in those situations.

No to mention the utter insanity to suggest RVP is "another" Messi..

How about this

- Get Hummels or Thiago Silva. One of these guys to be Puyols replacement as Puyol will now move to the bench. We can't *bleep* around and try and get some one cheap for this position.

- Sell David Villa or Alexis. Turn around and buy Muniain from Bilbao. Villa is getting older, we play him out of position and who knows how he might be after this injury. I would sell him now while he might still have some value and replace him with Muniain. He is a fast, young, hungry winger and that is exactly what we need. Alexis has failed to impress me and I think Muniain would fit our style better since Bilbao is playing a similar passing game to us at the moment. Also lets remember Affelay is back and Cuenca and Tello are quickly proving to be valuable assists to the team and they cost us nothing

- sell Keita. Get rid of this guy once and for all. He served us well but he is only hindering Thiago's development and we can use Jonathan to fill in when needed.

- Sign a strong, starting LB. Abidal might be done. This one I am not sure who could possibly be out there. But we would need a strong starting AND a solid bench LB since I read Adriano might be going to Juve.

If we sell Villa, Alexis, Adriano, Keita

replace with

Hummels/Thiago, Muniain, and 2 LBs. We actually might make some profit. We end up using Thiago, Jona, Cuenca, Tello who are free and also use Affelay who cost us only 3M. So all the cash from the people we would be selling can be invested in a CB and LB and then spent less on random areas we might want to invest in

Does anyone else think signing Villa at that age for that amount of money (€40 million) was stupid? I remember Barcelona were closing the deal for the same amount a year earlier but they decided to spend almost twice as much and sign Ibrahimović instead.

I hope nobody signs Muniain. I want Athletic to keep their squad like this for a while. Despite having to work so hard with so many limitations, they are a fantastic team and it is only unfair for Athletic to have their players taken away. But until sports broadcasting rights in Spain doesn't change, I can see the top two signing anyone they pick from others.

Finding a good LB these days is like finding a nail in a warehouse, especially if you want to replace someone like Abidal. Any suggestions?