BARCELONA

Media reports in Catalonia revealed that Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain player will leave his current club at the end of the current season, but his return to his former club is in doubt if his former colleague Gerard Pique remains in the team.

Messi left Barcelona in the summer of last year after 17 years in its ranks after the two parties failed to reach an agreement to extend the contract due to the financial fair play restrictions imposed by the Spanish League, which called him to move to Paris Saint-Germain with a contract that expires at the end of the current season.

The news of Messi’s return to Barcelona has erupted since last summer, as club president Joan Laporta publicly stated his desire for Messi to return to his childhood club and retire there, while coach Xavi Hernandez welcomed the return of the greatest player in the history of the Catalan club.

Marca Marpa, a journalist for the Catalan channel “Betifi”, confirmed on the famous “La Portera” program that Messi will not extend his contract with Paris Saint-Germain after its end.

Marba continued: Messi will not continue at the Princes Park after the current season, as he has many options, but his return to Barcelona is not one of them if Gerard Pique continues in the team.

Messi and Pique played together in the “La Masia” academy and the first team from 2008 to 2021, as they were among the elements of the historic Barcelona team that achieved the hexagonal in 2009 in addition to several different championships.

The relationship between the players witnessed a clear tension in Messi’s recent period with the club, as press reports revealed in 2021 that Pique was described as a traitor because he agreed to reduce his salary with Barcelona after his departure, and this proved the farewell dinner that Lionel set up for the rest of his colleagues and Gerrard missed him, while the latter is accused of asking From Laporta Messi’s departure and rebuilding the team again.

Pique is not at his best with Barcelona at the moment, as he is considered the fifth option in the defense line, and President Joan Laporta wants him to leave the club at the end of the season, while the club’s management is considering canceling his contract if he does not play 35% of the matches this season.

After an excellent start to the new season, Barcelona appear to be in a troubled position as they have suffered four strokes due to injury since the start of the international break.

Ronald Araujo suffered a serious injury, as he suffered a blow in the friendly match against Iran. Experts believe that the defender broke his close, which he may see on the sidelines for a long time.

If the adductor muscle malfunctions, the Uruguayan may need to undergo surgery, which could lead to him losing the FIFA World Cup.

Araujo’s absence would be devastating for Barcelona, ​​and even assuming the player simply broke his close, he is still expected to miss a large part of the season.

The defender could miss the entire October schedule, which includes crucial matches against Inter Milan, Villarreal and El Clasico against Real Madrid.

The Uruguay international may also miss matches against Bayern Munich and Valencia, until the November 7 meeting against Almeria UD.

This schedule, as rough as it sounds, is actually quite liberal given his injury. There is a chance that he will come out until the World Cup kicks off, and put his place there with Uruguay under a lot of pressure.

Araujo’s prolonged absence could have a significant impact on Barcelona’s hopes of keeping pace with Real Madrid for the title race, as well as the club’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League knockout rounds.

However, during the start of the season, the Barcelona board of directors prepared for such a disaster and, as such, did an excellent job of adding a great deal of depth to the first team.

With Araujo potentially long to miss, the onus should fall on the likes of Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia to fill it up. Even Gerard Pique could see more excitement after a slow start to a campaign that saw only one start to the league

Last summer was the most traumatic in Lionel Messi’s career. Although there was no shortage of media speculation and broken relationships in 2020, when he formally requested to leave Barcelona, the manner in which he was left at the altar by Joan Laporta two years later was bound to have a major impact on him.

Changing homes and places becomes a natural part of the career of many footballers, yet it is easy to forget that Barcelona had been his home since the age of 13. Uprooting and coming to terms with that in the space of five days is a tricky mental task for anyone.

Following Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Honduras last night, Messi hinted that it might have impacted his performance. His comments were carried by Sport.

“Last year I had a hard time, I never ended up getting myself together. I knew it was going to be like that, but now I feel different. This year is different, I am more accustomed to the club, to the play, to the dressing room and my colleagues. Now I feel good, I am enjoying it.”

The change Messi refers to has been evident in his performances so far this season. So far he has scored or assisted 14 goals for Paris Saint-Germain in 11 games, looking somewhere close to his scintillating best.

Barcelona is considering restoring the services of Argentine Lionel Messi, the star of Paris Saint-Germain, next summer, after the expiration of his contract with the French club.

According to the Spanish newspaper, Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona is facing a challenge in how to rebuild the relationship between Messi and President Joan Laporta, after the dispute that occurred last year, following Leo’s move to Paris.

Reports indicated that the relationship between Laporta and Messi began to return, through a phone message between the two, but no meeting took place, while those close to Liu denied the existence of contacts between the two parties over the phone.

Barcelona aspires to succeed in persuading Messi to return by offering him a great honor for his career with Barca, in addition to being an ambassador for the Catalan club.

Barcelona requires that Messi agree to reduce his salary in order to return to the club, in addition to accepting to play a secondary role with the team depending on the decisions of the coach.

She explained that the club greatly appreciates Messi, but does not want to reduce the roles of prominent players such as Pedri and Jaffe.

Barcelona needs to reduce his salary list to more than 200 million euros next season, if he wants to restore Messi, and give him a large salary.

There are still many highly paid players within the squad, such as Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay.

On the technical level, it is difficult for Messi to play as a fake striker in Barcelona, ​​​​in the presence of Robert Lewandowski, while he may be in the center of the right wing or return to the midfield if the plan is changed to 3-4-3 or 4-2-3 -1.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has announced the toughest defender he has faced in his career, as he made it clear that his only goal was to stop him regardless of anything else.

Lewandowski played in the German Bundesliga from 2010 to 2022, where he was a player in Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, before joining Barcelona during the last summer transfer window.

Robert Lewandowski made important statements, which were reported by the global network “Goal” in its German version: “There was a player named Zambrano in Frankfurt.”

“All he wanted to do was break my leg, he wasn’t even looking at the ball. He pissed me off because the referee didn’t see what was happening. Defenders are often allowed to do more things than attackers. It’s not an equal fight.”

Zambrano quickly responded to Lewandowski’s statements through his diary on his official account on the social networking platform “Instagram”, and wrote: “Dear Lewandowski, thank you for reminding me a little bit with a lot of love (laughing).”

And the Barcelona striker added: “As you know, this is football, my friend, we always play hard and leave our lives with every cross. I appreciate you very much for what you did throughout your great career and it is an honor for me to play against you. I wish you success always.”

It is worth noting that Carlos Zambrano is a Peruvian player who previously played for Schalke 04 in the 2009/10 season, St. Pauli in 2010/2011, and Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga from 2012 to 2016.

Spanish press sources revealed that Barcelona aims to sign a high-caliber defensive deal during the upcoming summer transfer season.

The Catalan club managed to sign 8 new deals, while the end of 16 players from the Blaugrana ranks was written in the last summer transfers.

And according to what was published by the Catalan newspaper “SPORT”, the Barcelona administration has expressed its willingness to pay 80 million euros for the inclusion of Liverpool defender Alexander Arnold, a large number that pushes the Reds to consider selling the 24-year-old player this summer.

The German coach, Jurgen Klopp, is credited with escalating the English right-back to the first team, as the young English star succeeded in imposing himself and booking a seat in the starting lineup during the past seasons.

The newspaper said that the Spanish club Barcelona is making a large sum of money to sign Alexander Arnold, the right-back of the Liverpool team, during the current summer transfers.

Alexander-Arnold has a contract with Liverpool that ends in June 2025, and is one of the main cards of German Jurgen Klopp in the formation of the Reds.

The owner of the number 66 shirt in Liverpool had made a statement in which he said that he is a fan of Barcelona and praised the way the Catalan team played.

And the newspaper stressed, that Matteo Alemani wants to sign Alexander Arnold from Liverpool next summer.

The star Alexander-Arnold played 235 games for Liverpool, scored 13 goals and provided 64 assists, since his promotion to the first team.

Alexander-Arnold won 7 titles with Liverpool, most notably the English Premier League 2019-2020 season, and the 2019 European Champions League.

Press reports revealed the fact that Paris Saint-Germain wanted to sell its Brazilian star Neymar, in order to obtain the services of Polish Robert Lewandowski, the current Barcelona and former Bayern Munich player.

The Catalans managed to get Robert Lewandowski’s signature during the last summer transfer season, but it seems that Barcelona went to war to get the player, as according to reports, Paris Saint-Germain tried to get the player as well.

This was confirmed by the Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”, quoting the French “Le Journal du Dimanche”, which confirmed in its reports that Paris Saint-Germain had tried to get rid of Neymar’s services, in order to provide sufficient funds that would help the team obtain the services of Lewandowski, to be Polish. With the French Kylian Mbappe, the star of the Paris giant, and the Argentine Lionel Messi, an indomitable fiery attack line!

In addition to the idea of ​​strengthening the team’s ranks, the Paris Saint-Germain administration, headed by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, wanted to please the team’s spoiler, Kylian Mbappe, as the latter wanted to become the team leader and the first controller of its course, as well as his clear desire to get rid of Neymar.

But the curtain came down on the desires of Paris Saint-Germain with a sad end, after the Paris giant renewed Mbappe until 2025, and Neymar refused to leave the gardens of Princes, while Lewandowski signed a four-year contract with Barcelona.

Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images
Last night El Mundo leaked confidential details regarding Lionel Messi’s demands to sign a new contract with Barcelona back in 2020.

The report included details such as the seven-time Ballon d’Or’s demands of a private box for his and Luis Suarez’s family at Camp Nou, €10 million renewal bonus and repayment for salary reductions among others.

Now, Barcelona have issued an official statement slamming the leaks, stating that the information made public was part of a judicial procedure. The statement from the Catalan giants reads as follows:

“In relation to the information published today in El Mundo del Siglo XXI , under the title ‘BarçaLeaks, the secret archives of the club, part 1’, FC Barcelona expresses its outrage at the interested leak of some information that would form part of a judicial procedure.

“The Club also regrets that the media outlet boasts of having had ‘access to a huge amount of documentation and emails that are in the possession of the Barçagate investigation’ when this information and documentation has not yet been shared with the parties.”

The statement further adds that Barcelona will consider taking legal actions against the media outlet due to the leaks of confidential information.

“In any case, the article in question makes public documents that have nothing to do with the investigation of the case and their use threatens the reputation and confidentiality of the Club.

“For this reason, and with the aim of protecting the rights of FC Barcelona, ​​the Club’s legal services are already studying the appropriate measures to take.”

Messi eventually did not sign any new contract with the club and departed Barça last year as a free agent, joining Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal.

Barring an interesting twist in the tale, it seems quite certain that Sergio Busquets will leave Barcelona at the end of the season, taking Inter Miami as a possible destination.

The 34-year-old midfielder has been with the Blaugrana for half his life, but it looks like a new chapter is on the horizon now. Replacing it will not be the easy task, which is why the search is already underway.
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The Barcelona board has already identified several potential solutions moving forward in Busquets’ role, and hopes to have a decision ready to be implemented before the midfielder departs.

The list of potential replacements includes two names that the Catalan club have been watching for a while: Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi and Wolverhampton’s Ruben Neves.

Barcelona like the Basque midfielder very much, but Real Sociedad are known to be a tough negotiator and are unlikely to let their local star leave for less than his release clause, which is currently set at €60m.

At the age of 23, Zubimendi has already made over 100 appearances for the Sociedad first team and is continuing to improve. He was part of the Spanish team that won the silver medal at the last Olympics.

Robin Nevis
Another major name under Busquets’ role is Ruben Neves, who, at 25 and with 30 caps for Portugal, is a more established option.

Of course, it will not come cheap either, but is represented by Jorge Mendes, who has an excellent relationship with Joan Laporta.

But Barcelona have other ideas, and they may decide they don’t need to go out and sign a replacement. Nico, currently on loan at Valencia, could return home to inherit sixth place, so Xavi will be keeping a close eye on him this season.

It’s safe to say that Real Madrid have one of the best forward ensembles in world football. In Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr, Los Blancos potentially have the most feared attacking duo in Europe.

Additionally, Rodrygo is one of the most gifted youngsters in the world, while Eden Hazard still possesses bags of technical quality, despite being past his prime.

And with Federico Valverde’s evolution as a right winger, it’s next to impossible for most sides on the planet to hold a torch to the European champions’ options up front.

However, Gerard Deulofeu, one of Europe’s most in-form forwards has hinted at his desire to join Real Madrid, adding to their embarrassment of riches in the forward department.

“If they come, how are you going to say no?”, he said, when asked if he would be willing to join Real Madrid, by MARCA.

Ultimately, this revelation is controversial, to say the least, considering the current Udinese talisman is also a La Masia graduate.

The 28-year-old also represented Barcelona’s first team between 2011 and 2013, following which he had loan stints with Everton and Sevilla, before joining the former permanently in 2015. Deulofeu returned to Barça in 2017, but the reunion lasted just six months as he moved to Watford soon.

It is not a surprise that the temptation of playing for Real Madrid is major for any player in the world. After all, the side from the Spanish capital won a double just last season, and remain the only team in Europe to have triumphed in every game this term as well.

With five league assists for a Udinese side that are at the summit of Serie A, Deulofeu looks like a man possessed in Italy currently as well.

While some may consider the option of bringing in the Spaniard as a viable option to bolster the frontline, Real Madrid’s incredible adaptation in Benzema’s absence indicates they are more than fine up top.

During the interview, Deulofeu also named Benzema as his pick for the Ballon d’Or 2022.

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REAL MADRID NEWSUEFA planning new ‘mini tournament’ at the start of each season, featuring four teamsPublished 2 hours agoon September 20, 2022By Adithya EshwarlaPhoto by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
The format of the UEFA Champions League has faced severe criticism in recent years with several top European clubs proposing a change in its format.

The situation peaked when clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus openly declared the formation of an autonomous European Super League last year.

Needless to say, UEFA have been trying to find ways to reinvent their competitions in recent years to appease both the clubs and the public. David Ornstein brings to light a new proposal on the table that the association consider introducing next year.

The new event will be a mini-tournament with four participating teams. It will be held before the start of the new season and will be called the ‘Opening Tournament.’

The winners of the previous edition of the Champions League will be given a guaranteed spot in the competition with the other three participants being top-performing European sides, likely semi-finalists.

Some powerful club executives have also been considering the possibility of hosting some matches in foreign markets like the United States, China and the Middle East. One of the main promoters of taking the games out of Europe is said to be PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Needless to say, Real Madrid will be amongst the favourites to take part in the event given their terrific form in Europe in recent years. Moreover, Florentino Perez has always been in favour of playing tournaments with stronger opposition and the new tournament is a mini version of the Super League he planned.