Barca eyeing Newell Old Boys defender, Santiago Vergini

Barcelona is still searching for a central defender and the latest player to join Barca’s wish list is Argentine Santiago Vergini, a 24 year old centre back who plays for Newell’s Old Boys, the ex team of Barca’s new coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino.
In fact, Santiago Vergini is one of the new coach’s weaknesses and who fully trusted the young man to play alongside Gabriel Heinze in Newell’s. It appears then that Martino has wasted no time in giving out a list of names in which appears the name of Santiago Vergini to strengthen the Blaugrana defense.

The young defender started out as a right-back but was reconverted by Gerardo Martino. He’s also a tall guy being 6ft 3in, and was teamed up with former Manchester United and Real Madrid veteran Gabriel Heinze, leader of the Newell’s Old Boys defense at 35 years of age.
Vergini has grown alongside Heinze and is currently on loan from Italian outfit Verona. The young player is pretty fast despite his large frame, handles the ball well and likes to anticipate play, in addition to being great in the air.
This young guy may be just the ticket and looks like he fits in with Barca’s plans perfectly.
What do you think, would Santiago Vergini be a welcome addition to FC Barcelona’s ranks or should they wait and get someone with more experience?

Tata Martino in line with Barca philosophy

Barcelona’s newly appointed manager Gerardo Martino was as surprised as the rest of the world when he was picked to replace Tito Vilanova. “I had prepared myself for a rest,” the 50-year-old Argentine said. “Barcelona’s call caught me by surprise but it filled me with pride.”

Although not tested in Europe, Martino has had success in Latin America, winning titles in Paraguay as well with his boyhood club, Newell’s Old Boys, in Rosario, Argentina. But traditionally, South American coaches have found the transition to Europe difficult, which made Barca’s move baffling.

But a closer look at Barcelona’s current state and Martino’s coaching philosophy gives us an idea why he was chosen.

Despite the La Liga success, Barcelona under Vilanova looked fatigued and short of ideas on many an occasion, particularly the two-leg, 7-0 battering in the Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich.

With Real Madrid regrouping under Carlo Ancelotti and Bayern (now coached by Pep Guardiola) threatening to extend last season’s dominance, Barcelona can ill-afford a failed experiment.

Martino, a student of Marcelo Bielsa (who even Guardiola travelled more than 6000 miles to meet before taking up the Barca job in 2008), is a firm believer in the advantages of ball retention.

And he wants a group of technically gifted players, who can play a high intensity, passing game. His Newell’s side played with a high defensive line, controlling possession, almost similar to Guardiola’s Barcelona.

“My priority is possession. Attack, get a lot of players in the opposition half, take risks,” he said in 2012.

And the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, schooled at La Masia, and drilled further by Guardiola, will only be too glad to follow suit.

Martino’s team will present an attacking, attractive style of football, but he will be pragmatic about his side’s deficiencies and Barcelona will be safe from another European humiliation. His success with an average Paraguay national side (it reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup and the final of the 2011 Copa America), showed his adaptability.

And Tata, as Martino is fondly called, will surely shore up the brittle defence, possibly adding a new central defender to fill in for the injury-prone and aging Carlos Puyol and the now erratic Gerard Pique. Player-fatigue, because of Barcelona’s style, will be another concern and Martino has to be astute in his squad rotation.

Slated to be unveiled at Camp Nou on Friday, the manager will also have to find an effective system to accommodate both Lionel Messi and Neymar, and that again might turn out to be a tactical nightmare.

Dani takes up Abidal's number

Barcelona defender Dani Alves is to pay tribute to his former teammate Eric Abidal as part of a number of shirt number changes at the club this season.
It is reported that the Seleção full back is to give up his number 2 shirt to take the number 22, the number left vacant after Abidal’s departure this summer.
Whilst there has been no confirmation from the club on the list for 2013-14, Barca’s players indicated in their 2-0 friendly defeat to Bayern on Wednesday a few numerical rearrangements have been made.
Mundo Deportivo believe that Dani Alves, who didn’t play in Germany after his participation in the Confederations Cup, has left the No 2 shirt to Martin Montoya out of choice to take the No 22 shirt in tribute to his former teammate.
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Why Fab can't leave Barcelona

Despite the inevitable desperate pleas from Manchester United manager David Moyes, new Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino must resist selling Cesc Fabregas to the Premier League power. 

According to BBC Sport, the new head man at Old Trafford remains hopeful that he will be able to lure the La Liga side into selling the 26-year-old midfielder. He called the negotiations "ongoing" despite two failed bids for the star already.
The latest offer, one that was swiftly turned down by Barcelona, was worth £30 million, plus add-ons, per BBC's report. 
Ben Smith of BBC reported earlier in the week that the offer was expected to be turned down because Fabregas is not on the market. For the sake of Barca fans, they had better hope that the words from the organization are the actual truth and not a ploy to garner more money for the 26-year-old. 
There's a reason that United would love nothing more than to pry Fabregas away. He would instantly give them a star in the midfield that would once again give them the most powerful lineup in the league. 
However, he's an asset that Martino can't afford to part ways with. Since joining Barca, he's been an underrated key to their success there's an appreciable difference in results depending on him being on the field. 

While most of his appearances for the club have been as a midfielder, dishing out assists to Messi and the rest of the frontline, he made 10 appearances as a forward last season. 
In those 10 appearances he scored five of his 12 total goals on the season and three of his 12 assists. Considering his limited time at the position those are impressive numbers. 
The attack in Barcelona may be all about Lionel Messi. He is the most prolific goal scorer in the world and all, but it's good that the club can be assured they have a capable back-up plan should Messi be forced to miss time next season. 
United is bound to escalate their bid for Fabregas as the club gets more desperate to make a summer splash, but Barca must stand strong and realize they won't find many players with Fabregas' ability to both score and distribute while playing both positions.

Thiago lashes at Barca management

Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara has refuted his own father's claim that he almost signed for Manchester United from Barcelona.
Thiago was strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer before choosing to join Champions League winners Bayern.
On Wednesday, Thiago's father Mazinho told Spanish press his son "was close" to making the switch to Manchester, but the midfielder has contradicted that opinion.
"The truth is that in no moment did United come to us and talk to us," Thiago said. "It came from the press, it was always a lie."

Reflecting on his decision to leave Barcelona, he said: "It's unfair to say I wasn't patient. The club knew my situation. I waited for them, especially before the European Championships, but they never contacted me. I didn't feel valued.
"I wanted to compete. The club knew that I wanted to leave and they didn't do much to change that.
"Everyone looks out for their interests, I wanted to feel valued and I wanted to compete so I decided to leave the club and join Bayern.
"I was waiting and waiting all summer, there was a point when I had to decide.
"All a footballer wants is to play football and I wanted to play, they [Barcelona] didn't do much for me to stay, so here I am."

Pep gives a warm warning for Barca

 Bayern Munich officially confirmed the signing of Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona for an initial fee thought to be around €22 million. Earlier this month Thiago was all set to join Manchester united, until out of the blue Josep Guardiola boldly stated:

“’I want Thiago. I have asked Rummenigge and Matthias Summer to get him. It’ll be him or no one. We have many players but we need the special quality that Thiago Alcantara brings.”

A statement that sums up Guardiola’s innocent intentions? Or is Thiago’s arrival a subliminal warning signal to other midfielders at the club?

 The Bavarian club are coming off the back of a historic treble, and key to this achievement was a midfield which was second to none, not only in Germany but in the entire European continent. So wouldn’t altering an already majestic midfield be an act of foolishness? Enis Koylu, a sports journalist claims that Thiago’s arrival would upset the balance of his new club and serve as a snub for Mario Gotze, another new signing at Bayern Munich. But again no one, not even Guardiola himself, said that Thiago was bought to take the place of any of the club’s established internationals. “Gotze is a superb player, but I need Thiago” were Pep’s exact words, a clear indication of his acknowledgment of Gotze’s qualities. Then where is the logic in purchasing Thiago?

 What is certain about Bayern’s upcoming season is that they will play more than 50 games. German super cup, European super cup, Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, Champions League, and club world cup are the competitions that Bayern will try harder than usual to either retain or reclaim. In order to challenge for all titles and have a fit squad at decisive moments of the next campaign, the German champions will need a team made up of in shape winners and fighters, whether a starter or a substitute, and Thiago’s signature serves this purpose. His qualities would surely come in handy.

 Arrigo Sacchi, mastermind of the Milan side that dominated the late 1980s, once said that the next tactical revolution in the game would be the conversion of the whole pitch into a midfield area, in addition to the elimination of specialists. What does this imply? This means that teams would have the luxury of having defensive midfielders playing as defenders and attacking midfielders playing as strikers. They would also still function as midfielders: passing the ball around quickly, closing down space, and playing a high tempo game.

 Back to our day, Guardiola has certainly upheld Sacchi’s saying and put his words into practice by converting defense and attack into a midfield. Guardiola’s football simply relies on midfielders. At Barcelona he had Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Thiago, Busquets, Dos Santos, and Mascherano, and no one complained of not playing as some are implying will happen at Bayern. With proper rotation and balanced motivation, all players can get a chance to prove their worth. The Catalan manager played Mascherano as a defender, Iniesta as a winger and Fabregas as a striker, just as Sacchi expected. He turned his squad to midfielders capable of playing anywhere and doing anything; pass, press, attack, and defend, unlike specialized players.

 In the majority of his pre-season games, Guardiola played a 4-1-4-1 system. If he ends up relying on this system next season, that would mean he will be depending on 1 defensive midfielder, two central midfielders, and maybe a false 9. That is 4 midfielders on the pitch at the same time, doing different tasks but still acting as midfielders. Bayern now have Kroos, Martinez, Schweinsteiger, Gotze, Gustavo, Thiago, Emre Can, and Hojbjerg which means 8 players should  fill 3-4 positions (depending on whether he plays with a midfielder as a false 9, or with a striker) in over 50 games. Is that midfield still overcrowded? Isn’t such competition healthy for a team playing for major trophies?

 In football, some players seek money, others more playing time, while a big portion of players hunt for glory, whether it is single such as the Ballon D’or, or collective such as a major tournament. And when a player reaches a place in his career where nothing matters more than holding a Champions League title, achieving a historic treble or even a double, they would most definitely, and willingly sacrifice certain things such as lets say: more minutes on the field. In small teams, it’s more important to sustain a certain balance in the squad, between achieving mediocre targets and having a satisfied team. While in bigger teams, the most important thing is the collective achievements, realized through having a sufficient number of world-class players capable of fairly competing to win a starting place.

 Guardiola doesn’t rely on one system only. He is always experimenting. “Javier Martinez can play at centre-back, he played very well there with Athletic” stated a confident Guardiola. Such an alteration would definitely free up a spot in midfield. Robben, Ribery, Muller, Shaqiri, and maybe even Gotze will challenge for a spot on the two wings. What is certain is that Guardiola is unpredictable when it comes to squad selection, and what is even more certain is that a manager of Pep’s caliber will relish seeing his outstanding players battle it out for a starting spot. After all, in 4 years with Barcelona, he never played the same team twice in a row. That’s because he makes sure to make the most out of every talent in his squad, be it through player rotation, positional interchange or tactical shifts. Options are what Guardiola seeks, and Thiago’s arrival gives him exactly that. In any given team, under any given manager’s guidance, abundance in players at a certain position might cause problems such as dissatisfaction and disillusionment. But in a team such as Bayern and under Pep’s guidance the wealth of talents is going to be more than welcome.

Song asks Man Utd to fall back

Cesc Fabregas could be set for a return to England with Manchester United

Manchester United boss Moyes has made Fabregas his No.1 target.

But Barca midfielder Alex Song reckons United’s pursuit of the Spaniard is guaranteed to fail.
Song, who played with Fabregas at Arsenal, said: “I know Cesc is 100 per cent here. He loves Barcelona, he loves the club.
“He will stay here next season and give 100 per cent because I know him very well and he’ll want to fight. He’s focused on the club. He just wants to give his best for Barcelona.

Alex Song is confident his Barcelona team-mate will remain in Spain

“He will stay here next season and give 100 per cent because I know him very well”

Alex Song

“He’s from Barcelona, he loves Barcelona and he’ll want to start the season to show what he can do.
“People are talking and talking... It’s my own opinion but I know he will stay here, 100 per cent.”
United have had two offers knocked back by the Catalan club but are ready to test Barca’s resolve with a third bid of around £35m.

Cesc Fabregas has emerged as David Moyes' number one transfer target

Chief executive Edward Woodward left United’s pre-season tour early to focus on the Fabregas deal. Moyes said: “It is ongoing.”
Moyes is set to find out today whether he has any realistic hopes of capturing Fabregas.

Fabregas is concerned that Xavi and Andres Iniesta block his path to regular first-team football at Barcelona

The midfielder’s fate is in the hands of new Barca boss Gerardo Martino. And he is due to reveal his plans for the former Arsenal midfielder when he is unveiled this afternoon.
Fabregas is thought to be interested in joining United, partly due to concerns about getting regular football at Barcelona ahead of next summer’s World Cup.

Marquinhos eyeing Barca over PSG

Roma defender Marquinhos is holding out for a move to Barcelona, according to reports in Brazil, amid strong interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

It seemed as if Marquinhos was on the verge of a move to the French champions recently but now it is claimed the 19-year-old wants a move to Spain, reports Football Espana.
The Roma youngster was said to be ‘not very far away’ from a switch to the French champions on Saturday.
But media reports in his home country claim that the centre back is not keen on Laurent Blanc’s side and would rather wait for a transfer to Camp Nou.
PSG were reported to have had a €30m bid accepted from the Giallorossi, whilst the Blaugrana have had their €25m bid rejected.
The hierarchy at Stadio Olimpico are resigned to the fact they will lose the 19-year-old and are expecting an improved offer from Tito Vilanova’s men soon.

Marquinhos to PSG = Thiago Silva to Barca

Marquinhos may be the key man in Barca’s search for a central defender ahead of next season. The Roma defender is in the crosshairs of both FC Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain. Both clubs are interested in the 19 year-old and are studying the possibility of a transfer.
For Barcelona, Marquinhos signing for the French club would not be too much of a drama, as it would be a good argument to persuade PSG to let Thiago Silva go. Strengthening the team with Marquinhos would no longer make the presence of another central defender indispensable.
Marquinhos, is therefore fundamental in unlocking a situation that is in stalemate as PSG at the moment, will not hear any talk about a possible move by Thiago Silva to Barcelona.

His absence has unleashed speculation
Alarm bells sounded in Italy on Thursday because Marquinhos did not meet up with the rest of the Roma team. There was a rumour that he could be very close to a move and for that reason hadn’t trained with the squad. In addition, Roma’s sporting director Walter Sabatini, was away in Paris and was even rumoured to be in Spain, too.
It was a false alarm though. The reason for his absence as explained by his representative, was that he had a temperature and the club doctors sent him home.
It was even speculated that Marquinhos wouldn’t be joining up with the rest of the team but yesterday evening everything was in order when he did finally join up with his fellow teammates at Roma.

Will Pep feud with Barca see him join Real Madrid one day?

The feud between Barcelona bosses and Pep Guardiola has further escalated after the Catalan club hit back at accusations that they had taken advantage of Tito Vilanova’s illness to criticise their former manager.
Bayern Munich coach Guardiola made the claims on Thursday, angrily stating how club president Sandro Rosell refused to “leave me in peace” and adding: “Using Tito’s disease to damage me is something I will never forget.”
It was in reaction to Rosell suggesting Guardiola had not made the effort to visit Vilanova when the current Barca coach had travelled to New York for cancer treatment.
Barca responded strongly, with vice president Jordi Cardoner on Friday stating: “I was speechless when I heard what Pep had said. I don’t know what happened. I don’t understand it because our relationship with Pep and his family is excellent. Anyone who says that we’ve used Tito’s illness is lying.”
Despite Cardoner’s protestations, there is plenty of substance to the theory that a serious difference of opinion exists between Guardiola and his former club’s hierarchy.
It is widely believed Guardiola’s fraught relationship with Rosell was one of the key factors behind his decision to resign in the summer of 2012, and Rosell’s assertion a few months ago that Vilanova’s achievements had exceeded Guardiola “in every way” were unnecessarily provocative.
Predictably, former president Joan Laporta – a fierce and frequent critic of Rosell – wasted little time in wading in. “Guardiola deserves the total respect of all Barcelona fans for his excellent work, and for the honesty and values that he represents,” Laporta wrote on his Twitter feed.
Another twist to the increasingly fraught relations has been provided by Bayern’s pursuit of Thiago Alcantara. The midfielder is believed to be considering an approach to join the German club, who have acted upon Guardiola’s request to meet his £18m buy-out clause.

Barca's Thiago all set to bid farewell

Thiago Alcantara has informed Barcelona that he wants to move to Bayern Munich according to Mundo Deportivo‘s main story today.

They say that Karl Heinz Rummenigge is fully in support of Pep Guardiola’s desire to bring the 22-year-old midfielder to Germany and that the two clubs were in discussion yesterday regarding the fee.

There are two possibilities; one, that Munich pay the release clause to sign the player and the second being that they pay a transfer fee significantly higher than his release clause.

The article goes on to say that Barcelona would refuse the €18 million release clause if it was offered by Munich but given that they do not have the power to do that due to the nature of a clause, that doesn’t make sense.

It would come as a huge blow to United if we were to miss out on a target in the transfer market given how many times it has happened in recent years but if the deal is confirmed, it places a big question over Thiago’s real ambition.

He reportedly wants to move away from Barcelona in search of game time ahead of next year’s World Cup so moving to Munich, where they have midfielders aplenty, ahead of United would seem a strange decision in that respect. Guardiola claimed he would push Martinez back to accommodate him in central midfield but given that Martinez/Schweinsteiger were the best central midfield pairing in Europe last year, that would be a questionable move.

But given the romanticism of Thiago playing back under Guardiola may be too much of a pull that we simply can’t compete with.

One good thing to note after all of this is that David Moyes yesterday said he was pleased and confident with his progress on transfers in the market, so United are certainly up to something behind closed doors.

Moyes gunning for Thiago signature next week

David Moyes has admitted he is doing everything he can to strengthen his Manchester United squad amid reports the club are close to completing the capture of midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona.

Rumors that Thiago has opted to quit the Nou Camp in favour of Old Trafford in order to maximise his chances of making Spain's World Cup squad next summer have circulated for some time now.
However, so far, the transfer has not been concluded and Moyes opted not to offer any specific updates when he met the media for the first time.
Reports have emerged in Spain, though, that representatives of both clubs will meet next week to finalise the transfer.
Thiago is available at a cut-price £17million as he did not feature in the number of first-team games stated in his Barca contract and it is claimed will sign a five-year deal to become Moyes' first significant capture since replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Manchester United will always be close to the best players," Moyes told MUTV.
"I will inform the supporters as much as I can.
"Some things are confidential but I am doing everything I possibly can to strengthen the current English champions."

The deal could be rushed through in time to make Thiago available for the start of United's pre-season tour on Wednesday.
However, given the highly-rated player's successful run to the European Under-21 Championship final with eventual winners Spain, he may not be called up for the first part of the three week expedition to the Far East and Australia anyway.
It does appear Wayne Rooney will be involved though, with club sources last night reinforcing Moyes' public statement of the 27-year-old not being for sale.

Barca cruising behind Marquinhos with a 32m offer

Barcelona are determined to poach Marquinhos from Roma and reportedly increased their offer to €32m.
The Blaugrana’s interest in the Brazilian centre-back is well known and they are in a bidding war with PSG.
It was already rumoured earlier today that the two clubs had raised their bids to €25m, but it was still not enough to tempt Roma into a sale.
According to Sky Sport Italia this afternoon, Barcelona have stepped it up again with a huge proposal worth €32m.
It would be incredible business for the Giallorossi, who signed the 19-year-old from Corinthians for a total of just €5m.
There are also reports that Marquinhos' agent is in Spain to discuss terms with Barcelona.

Messi happy about Neymar arrival

LIONEL MESSI believes Neymar is the perfect signing for Barcelona as they bid to retain La Liga and conquer Europe next season.

The 21-year-old completed his €57m move to Camp Nou from Santos at the start of June, though doubters had questioned whether the club had made a mistake in paying such a large sum for a player untested in Europe.
But after scoring four times in the Confederations Cup, including a stunning goal in the 3-0 final win over Spain, the Brazil international has answered his critics with goals and Messi is hoping for more of the same with Barcelona.
"I'm sure he will be a good signing for what we want to achieve," he said.
"Hopefully Neymar can make a big contribution to Barcelona and can continue to demonstrate the sort of performances that he's showed for Brazil and Santos."
The Blaugrana romped to the Primera Division title last season but were badly beaten by Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They were defeated 7-0 on aggregate over two legs by the eventual winners, but the arrival of Neymar alongside the four-time Ballon d'Or winner will have the rest of Europe watching on with interest.
Meanwhile, Barcelona spokesman Toni Freixa said the club's transfer resources have not been exhausted by the money they paid for Neymar.
"Barca can afford all the transfers the technical staff deem necessary, as has always been the case," he said.
"But we cannot tell the market how much we are prepared to spend."
Meanwhile, Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has signed Spanish Under-21 defender Marc Muniesa from Barcelona on a four-year deal.

 

David Villa + 25 million = Wayne Rooney

The Old Trafford outfit remain adamant that Rooney will not be sold this summer and plan to demand a formal transfer request, should the player and his agent try to engineer a move away.

The 27-year-old has two years remaining on his lucrative £250,000 per wages contract and manager David Moyes is unwilling to part ways with the maverick star.

According to reports from Guardian, it is still unclear whether Rooney has held talks with his manager or not, but United camp are seemingly relaxed about the issue involving the player’s future.
The unsettled striker, who has been courted by both the cross-town London rivals, Chelsea and Arsenal, may also demand Moyes to confirm publicly that he has not submitted any formal transfer request, contrary to what was claimed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Meanwhile, Catalan based newspaper Sport reports, that Barcelona are looking to land the former Everton striker and could throw David Villa in the mix, for a potential cash plus player swap deal.
Several Premier League clubs, including the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool have registered their interest in David Villa, but none of the aforementioned clubs are willing to fork out the quoted £9 million for the 31-year-old striker.
Barcelona are willing to negotiate a mutually beneficial deal with United over the transfer between the two players, and president Sandro Rosell could sanction a pay cheque of around €25 million for the striker