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Spanish press reports revealed Barcelona’s desire to include Ivorian star Frank Kessie in a reciprocal deal with Aston Villa, during the upcoming winter transfer period.

Barcelona signed Casey last summer with a free deal, after his contract with Milan expired, but the player did not gain the confidence of coach Xavi Hernandez, and spent the first half of the season on the bench.

Xavi Hernandez asked the Barcelona administration to support the midfield with a new player in the winter Mercato, and there are several options between which the Catalan club is preferring at the present time, such as Ilkay Gundogan, the star of Manchester City, and Douglas Luiz, the midfield of Aston Villa.

Casey is expected to leave Barcelona in January

And the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo reported, quoting Italian sources, that Barcelona is considering concluding a reciprocal deal with Aston Villa, which includes the transfer of Frank Casey to the English club, in exchange for obtaining the services of Brazilian star Douglas Luiz, who is performing well this season.

The newspaper indicated in its report that there are several clubs interested in contracting with Casey after he failed to reserve a basic seat with Barcelona, ​​and at the top of these clubs are Juventus and Turin, in addition to his former club Milan.

FC Barcelona tops the La Liga table with 37 points, two points behind Real Madrid, which is in second place.

Endorsed by Jordi Cruyff, the Belgian pleases to reinforce the midfield
Contract with Leicester ends on June 30 and Arsenal is willing to bid hard for him

There are several positions that Barça knows that it will have to reinforce in the next two transfer windows. One of them is the midfield. He only has one pure Xavi in ​​the squad, Sergio Busquets, and the captain’s contract ends on June 30, and it is more than likely that he will decide to put an end to his time at Blaugrana.

There could be two footballers who arrive at Barça to cover this position in the coming months. It is no secret that Xavi really likes the Real Sociedad player, Martín Zubimendi, and that the club also controls the Portuguese player Rúben Neves, represented by Jorge Mendes, but also controls the market for free players. There appears the name of Youri Tielemans, who ends his contract with Leicester on June 30. The sports management has very good reports on the Belgian and Jordi Cruyff is one of his main supporters. The Blaugrana sports director has a great friendship with the Belgian coach, the Catalan Robert Martínez, who has made him aware of the great qualities of a footballer who is a fixture in his team and who will be the protagonist in the World Cup that starts next Sunday.

Tielemans, 25, is a midfielder who can act as a central midfielder and inside midfielder. He has a great ball output and is almost infallible in the pass, in addition to also highlighting defense more for placement than for physical. When he plays inside, he also reaches the rival area with ease and danger. He has scored three goals in fifteen games this season in the Premier and last season, he scored six. With the Belgian national team, he has scored five goals in 54 games.

Barça, in any case, will have competition if it decides definitively to incorporate Tielemans, as Arsenal has decided to bet heavily on the player, who is to the liking of its coach, Mikel Arteta. In England they explain that there has been a rapprochement between the two parties to reach an agreement for next summer. Tielemans is now focused on the World Cup and will decide his future when the event in Qatar ends. Barça could also enter the bid then and even try to advance its arrival to this winter, although everything will depend on the Fair Play that it ends up having.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar revives the treasury of the Spanish club Barcelona in an unprecedented way, according to the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, today, Saturday.

The newspaper close to the walls of Barcelona stated that the Catalan club will have the highest participation rate for its players in the World Cup in the history of the tournament, as 16 Barca players will be present in the World Cup in Qatar, which is higher than the number achieved by the club in the last World Cup, Russia 2018.

Barcelona knew 14 players participated in the World Cup in Russia, while 13 players from the Catalan team were present in France 1998, South Africa 2010, and Brazil 2014.

Barcelona revives its coffers with an amount of 2 million and 750,000 pounds due to the participation of its players in the World Cup, and this amount will be a candidate for an increase after the players qualify for the playoffs, which means that the mentioned amount includes the group stage only.

Barca receives up to 8,500 pounds for each player who participates with his country in the group stage, regardless of the outcome of the matches.

Barcelona currently leads the La Liga standings, two points ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

The Spanish forward had been out for a long time and now he is happy

Ansu Fati received extraordinary news on Friday when he was told he would be going to the World Cup with Spain. After many months of suffering Luis Enrique called him up and his father, on Cope and Tu Diras, spoke about what a joy it was.

“Ansu, who was training at the moment the squad was announced, called us on the phone shouting, he was very happy, his reward has arrived,” said his father Bori Fati.

“Yesterday we almost didn’t sleep wondering if he would go or not. We did not know anything, we had our hearts almost in our mouths. If you see him today, it’s like he’s reborn.

“He’s doing well. Truly. Ansu has suffered but for some time he’s been well. He did preseason and since he started the season he’s had no trouble with his knee or muscular injuries. He’s working at 100 percent at Barca. He knows where he is and what he wants to do.”

The Barça president positively values ​​this first stretch of the season, despite being

eliminated from the Champions League, and reiterates that the goal is still LaLiga

Joan Laporta has analyzed the Barça news taking advantage of the World Cup break. The president reiterates that the objective is LaLiga, praises the new signings, especially Lewandowski, affirms that they have always trusted Xavi and admits that the game against Osasuna was very decisive.

“In Pamplona they showed that they have the makings of a champion, that they have the character to overcome adversity and that they want to win this League”, assured the president in an interview with the newspaper Sport. The lawyer positively values ​​this first part of the season, despite the elimination from the Champions League in the group stage.

“It was a hard blow. But I insist, the objective is the League and we hope that we continue on the right path. We are putting up some very important numbers. We can fight with the chance of winning the title”, assured Laporta.

In addition, he has praised Xavi and has stated that he has never been questioned. “I can assure you that we are very proud of the coach we have. He is a coach who knows the club very well, who knows the moment in which it has arrived. In addition, he knows how to share with the different members of the club everything that can be improved”, has said.

The Red Devils are said to have more than 100 million budgeted to bolster their midfield.

Frenkie de Jong is once again in the spotlight of transfer rumours. The Sunday Times claim that Manchester United have a budget of more than 100 million euros to strengthen their midfield in January and that their top priority is once again Frenkie de Jong.

The reds manager Erik ten Hag is advising his club that they must go for a world-class player and that they cannot miss out on their first choice.

Manchester United appear to have heeded his advice. The Dutchman could be the final piece of their project rebuild.

The team have been improving steadily after a shaky start, but their manager believes it is necessary to sign a player who is good on the ball and can make progressive passes into the final third.

Casemiro is doing the destroying work, but they need to create a lot more attacking play.

Frenkie has always been an obsession for Ten Hag, but the Blaugrana midfielder, so far, has not shown any willingness to leave Camp Nou and even less so to a work-in-progress like United.

It remains to be seen whether the English club will be able to attract De Jong with a very high financial offer. The player seems determined not to listen to anyone now that he is an undisputed starter at Barça.

United could still choose to wait till the end of the season, once his final role in the team has been made concrete.

There is no doubt that Enzo Fernandes has become one of the biggest talents in the Champions League. The Argentine midfielder impressed his performance as a midfielder, and in Portugal they confirmed that bidding for his signature had already begun.

Record has confirmed that Manchester United want him in January and that Barcelona are interested in him as a possible successor to Busquets. Everything indicates that the Argentine will come to a high price because there are not many players of his type.

Sport newspaper already revealed a few weeks ago that Barcelona’s technical area was closely following the developments of Enzo Fernandes at Benfica. They have watched it for several matches and there is no doubt about its quality.

Enzo is used to playing as a double pivot with the help of a more physical midfielder and in Barcelona he should only form as a defensive midfielder. It is also true that in Argentina he took advantage of this pivotal position with a good performance.

FC Barcelona was already interested in him when he belonged to River Plate. Ramon Blanes, the former technical secretary of the Blaugrana, spoke with his agents but Barcelona did not have the financial capacity at the time. Months later, Benfica signed him for around €12m, buying 80 per cent of his rights. And in Portugal he became a star.

Barcelona are not ready to make an offer and Manchester United appear willing to offer just over €60m for the player. Liverpool are also on the lookout, although they haven’t made a move.

Source: sport

The Spanish left back has been in fine form and could even go to the World Cup

Barcelona are close to achieving one of their prime objectives. Renewing Alejandro Balde’s contract until 2027.

The deal has been moving forward in the past few months and it’s set for him to sign this year. The defender wants to stay and he will rise to a similar level of salary as Araujo and Gavi.

The Blaugrana have seen how he’s become a key part of Xavi’s squad and the coach uses him regularly. He had a deal until 2024 with a 500m release clause.

The idea is that the deal is signed by the end of 2022 although it depends on if Balde goes to the World Cup or not. There have been various meetings with his agent Jorge Mendes, who has let it be known there are other offers on the table.

Mendes made it clear that if Barcelona were desperate for money then Balde could go to a Premier League club, but Barcelona are determined to keep him.

Balde is one of the three players who earns the least currently, so this pay rise is due.

Lewandowski was sent off for two bookings in the win over Osasuna

Robert Lewandowski’s red card against Osasuna could come with a three-game ban due to a gesture he made when he left the pitch.

The striker was visibly angry to be shown a second yellow card and touched his nose with his index figure in a symbol that in Poland alludes to arrogance, in this case in reference to the referee, Jesus Gil Manzano.

According to COPE, Lewandowski’s actions could bring a three-match ban for the Barça No. 9.

Gil Manzano wrote in his report: “Once sent off and as he was leaving the pitch, the player twice made a gesture in disapproval of the decision (…) then pointing towards the referee.”

The three games would consist of one of the dismissal and two more if the discipline committee consider his gesture of disrespect towards the officials worthy of further sanction.

Barça’s next three league games are against Espanyol, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis.

Barcelona is counting on Dutch sporting director Jordi Cruyff to conclude an important deal next summer.
According to what was reported in the newspaper “Sport”, the Catalan club is waiting for Cruyff to complete the contract with Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.
This is to replace captain Sergio Busquets, who is expected to leave Barca after the end of the current season, although he recently renewed his contract with Sociedad.
Barcelona trusts Cruyff’s ability to settle this file, because of the excellent relationship he has with Zubimendi’s agent.
Cruyff has previously benefited from this relationship, with the signing of Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal, at the lowest costs.

Xavi’s insistence was key to Barcelona not surrendering to the Real midfielder

Barcelona are preparing to make a major investment in a deep midfielder as they prepare for life without Sergio Busquets, whose contract will expire in the summer.
Barcelona has been combing the market for months and has put several names on the table for coach Xavi Hernandez. There are a variety of profiles, from more physical players to more experienced players and some are available for free in June.
More than 10 players were closely monitored by the sports department, but Martin Zubimende of Real Sociedad remains the number one target. Xavi wants him and is convinced by his positional play, his touch and his age as an alternative to Busquets.
There are no doubts within the club, but its €60m price tag raises doubts about making a mistake. The investment may be risky but Xavi did not concede.

Barcelona approached the player’s camp. Sporting director Jordi Cruyff has ramped up his contacts with Zuppimendi’s agent, with whom he has had a direct relationship for years.
Iñaki Ibáñe, Zudimendi’s agent, was also at Cruyff when he was a player. He collaborated with Barcelona on other deals as well, such as Aubameyang’s free arrival last January.
Barcelona saw Zubimendi’s latest renewal until 2027 as a good sign as his condition is still €60m. The big question is whether Barcelona will be able to negotiate that or at least agree to a payment schedule or perhaps even a player in a partial exchange.

What Barcelona does not want is for relations with Real Sociedad to become hostile. They want to come to an amicable agreement, whether it’s January or next summer, which is more natural.
Obviously, there are other options if the Zubimendi deal proves impossible. A few months ago, it looked more complicated, but there is some optimism now that a deal could be brokered.
Xavi’s insistence is strong, so Barcelona will try. The priority is Zubimendi, but don’t rule out anyone else just yet.