Tag: BARCELONA

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GERARD PIQUE TAKES PAY CUT TO EASE PLAYER REGISTRATIONS AT BARCELONA

Barcelona have been able to register summer signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia — as well as forward Rey Manaj — ahead of the new LaLiga season thanks to Gerard Pique accepting a “substantial” pay cut, the club announced on Saturday.

LaLiga’s strict spending limits, based on an analysis of a club’s income and outgoings, had left Barca struggling to have the players available for their first game of the new campaign, even after the departure of Lionel Messi.

“FC Barcelona is able to register Memphis, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj to play in the Spanish Liga de Futbol Profesional,” the club said in a statement. “This has been made possible thanks to an agreement with Gerard Pique whereby the Barça second captain’s salary has been substantially reduced.”

It added: “The club is also continuing to work with two of the other captains, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, to adapt their salaries to the club’s current situation. It must be noted that both players are totally and utterly willing to cooperate.”

The move means coach Ronald Koeman will have a full squad to choose from as Barca host Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Barcelona’s spending cap — the total sum it is allowed to spend on playing and coaching staff — has fallen from over €600 million in the 2019-20 season to an expected €200m now, due to financial problems exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

That made it impossible for the club to register an agreed new five-year contract with Messi, whose previous deal had expired, leading the forward to join Paris Saint-Germain this week.

It also meant that while Barca had announced the signings of Memphis and Garcia in June, the pair had not been officially registered with LaLiga until now.

In its statement on Saturday, the club also cited the work done in terms of outgoing player sales and loans to ensure the inclusion of the new arrivals.

“Jean-Clair Todibo was sold for €8 million to Nice, Junior Firpo went to Leeds United for €15m, [Francisco] Trincao was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers for €6m, Carles Alena was traded to Getafe for €5m and Konrad De La Fuente left for Marseille in exchange for €3.5m,” it said.

“The latter two operations were at 50% because they included the right to repurchase. In addition, Matheus Fernandes’ contract was terminated.”

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BARCELONA SUFFER FURTHER BLOW AS SERGIO AGUERO SIDELINED FOR 10 WEEKS

Barcelona have received an injury blow with the news that striker Sergio Aguero is set to be sidelined for 10 weeks with a calf issue.

The LaLiga giants are still reeling from the departure of Lionel Messi, who is reportedly close to joining Paris St Germain in the coming days.

Now they will be without Messi’s Argentina team-mate, with Aguero’s Barcelona debut delayed due to his injury setback.

“Tests carried out on first team player Kun Aguero have confirmed a right calf injury. He will be out around ten weeks,” Barcelona tweeted on Monday morning.

Aguero, 33, moved to the Nou Camp at the start of the summer when his contract at Manchester City expired.

He spent 10 seasons at City, winning five Premier League titles – including his injury-time winner against QPR in a final-day victory which saw them pip rivals Manchester United to the crown.

Aguero left England as the highest-scoring foreign player in Premier League history, hitting 184 goals while at the Etihad Stadium.

A couple of injury-hit campaigns saw him drop down the pecking order, with his final appearance coming as a substitute in the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea.

However, his start to life at the 26-time Spanish champions has been a tough one as he has seen friend and compatriot Messi leave and injury rule him out of the opening months of the campaign.

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TEARFUL LIONEL MESSI GETS STANDING OVATION AS HE SAYS GOODBYE TO BARCELONA

An emotional Lionel Messi has revealed he expected to extend his stay at Barcelona.

It was announced on Thursday the six-time Ballon d’Or winner would not sign a new contract with his boyhood club, with president Joan Laporta saying a day later that the former regime at Barca in addition to LaLiga spending rules had thwarted any hopes of the Argentinian staying in Catalonia.

Speaking at his farewell press conference on Sunday morning, a tearful Messi got a standing ovation after speaking.

He said: “This year, my family and I were convinced we were going to stay at home, that’s what we all wanted more than anything.

“We’d always made this our own, we were at home. We thought we would be staying here in Barcelona. But today, we have to say goodbye to all of this.”

The 34-year-old, who has been heavily linked with a move to Paris St Germain, had been set to remain at the Nou Camp but is now a free agent.

He added: “I did everything possible and the club, Laporta, they couldn’t do it because of LaLiga.

“I’ve heard things said about me, that I didn’t want to continue, but on my life, we did everything we could because I wanted to stay.

“Last year, I didn’t want to stay and I said it; this year, I wanted to stay and we couldn’t.”

PSG appears the most likely next destination for Messi and while he confirmed that joining the French giants was a possibility, he insisted nothing was yet agreed.

He said: “That’s honestly one possibility, to reach those heights, but I’ve got nothing confirmed with anybody.

“When the press release was published, I had a lot of calls and a lot of clubs were interested.

“At the moment, I’ve not got anything closed, but we are talking about a lot of things.”

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PSG CONFIDENT IN SIGNING LIONEL MESSI, HOPE TO COMPLETE DEAL WITHIN THE WEEK

Paris St Germain are confident signing Lionel Messi would be profitable in the long run and hope to complete a deal within a week, the PA news agency understands.

Barcelona announced on Thursday night that the Argentina superstar would be leaving the Nou Camp, with financial restrictions preventing them from offering him a new contract.

LaLiga has a salary cap, calculated based on a club’s financial health, which was reduced in November in the wake of the financial pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Barca have been hit hard.

PSG were understood to initially be of the view that a deal could not be done when the announcement came, but sources close to the matter say a direct approach from Messi to PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino later on Thursday changed the dynamic.

Overnight the French club undertook a commercial analysis and determined that signing Messi would work within the confines of Financial Fair Play rules.

The personal connection between Messi and fellow Argentinian Pochettino and the fact the deal is a free transfer are both factors in PSG pursuing the deal.

They believe Messi’s signing would drive up their commercial revenues, both in Europe and in South America should he link up with Brazilian star Neymar.

The French club had been in contact with Barcelona earlier in the summer regarding Messi but thought the chance to sign him had passed when it was indicated he would be staying in Catalonia.

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LIONEL MESSI TO LEAVE BARCELONA AS CLUB BLAMES LA LIGA REGULATIONS

Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, the La Liga club said on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of the deal.

Messi, who joined Barca’s youth set-up aged 13, is the club’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions.

The Argentina forward was free to negotiate a transfer with other clubs after his deal ran out at the end of June, but Barcelona had always maintained he wanted to stay with the club.

Messi, who has spent his whole career at Barcelona, had been expected to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, which would have included a salary reduction of 50 per cent.

Barcelona needed to financially restructure in order to get the deal over the line, which proved impossible in the end as they failed to reduce their wage bill in order and stay within La Liga’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

La Liga chief Javier Tebas said last month that Barcelona, who have a total debt of more than €1 billion, would not be shown any leniency when it comes to obeying the league’s strict financial control rules.

The news of Messi’s exit comes a day after La Liga agreed in principle to sell 10 per cent of a newly formed company housing most of its business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for €2.7 billion.

“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish La Liga regulations),” Barca said in a statement.

“As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.

“FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.”

Messi’s last contract, signed in 2017, was the most lucrative in world sport according to a January report in newspaper El Mundo.

Messi had tried to leave Barcelona in August 2020, making a formal request for an exit after a breakdown in his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu but successor Joan Laporta, who presided over the Argentine’s rise to greatness, convinced him to stay.

The Argentine, who helped Barcelona claim 10 league titles, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups among his haul of 35 trophies, remains without a club ahead of the 2021-22 season.

The Catalan club’s president Joan Laporta will hold a news conference on Friday morning in the wake of Messi’s exit.

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AARONSON SCORES LATE WINNER AS SALZBURG BEAT BARCELONA IN PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY

United States international Brenden Aaronson struck a late winner as FC Salzburg beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Red Bull Arena in an entertaining preseason friendly on Wednesday.

Aaronson, who joined Salzburg from the Philadelphia Union in January, turned home from close range in the last minute after Chukwubuike Adamu had hit the post.

Martin Braithwaite’s fortunate goal five minutes earlier looked to have rescued a draw for Barca following Luka Sucic’s deflected opener just before the break.

Salzburg’s winning margin might have been greater if not for a string of glaring misses from Switzerland forward Noah Okafor in the first half.

This was Barca’s fourth game of preseason and the first they have failed to win. They’re still without Lionel Messi, who’s not yet signed his new deal with the Catalan club and remains a free agent.

Barca were also missing several other players due to injuries, the Olympic Games and players returning late from international tournaments this summer.

However, Ronald Koeman was still able to name a strong side in Austria, with Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay and Antoine Griezmann among those slotting into a 3-5-2 formation.

It was the home side who roared out of the blocks in a front of a ferocious crowd, though, and they should have been 2-0 up before Sucic’s 43rd-minute opener.

Okafor missed two gilt-edged chances, blazing over with the goal gaping after a Jordi Alba mistake and sliding wide later when one on one with Neto.

At the other end, Memphis curled wide for Barca and Griezmann hit the roof of the net but Nico Mantl was never really troubled.

Salzburg finally opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Sucic’s long-range effort took a touch off De Jong to deceive Neto.

Multiple substitutions disrupted the second half, but Salzburg remained on top and there was still time for Okafor to miss another opening, firing straight at Neto when well placed, before he was finally replaced.

The game opened up late on, with Alejandro Balde and Memphis both testing substitute goalkeeper Philipp Kohn from distance before Braithwaite’s leveller.

The Denmark striker didn’t know much about it, though, with the ball ricocheting off him and beating Kohn after Sergino Dest’s shot was only half-cleared.

Salzburg pushed hard in the final five minutes to restore their lead. Some last-ditch defending from Dest kept Benajamin Sesko out on the line but the home side kept going.

Adamu shook the post but Aaronson, who scored seven goals in his debut season in Salzburg last term, was quickest to react to the loose ball.

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MEMPHIS DEPAY DEBUTS, SCORES FOR BARCELONA IN WARM UP WIN GAME AGAINST GIRONA

Barcelona won their second preseason match as summer signing Memphis Depay scored on his debut in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Girona at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

Three of the four goals came from penalties, with Gerard Pique opening the scoring from the spot in the 21st minute.

Rey Manaj made it 2-0 three minutes later, following up his midweek hat-trick against Gimnastic de Tarragona with a finish from close range.

Girona pulled one back just before halftime when Samu Saiz scored a penalty before Memphis added Barca’s third, also from the spot, late on. Memphis arrived in Barcelona earlier this week after signing on a free transfer from Lyon in June.

He started on the bench but his debut came earlier than expected before half-time when Manaj was forced off with a head injury suffered in the 35th minute. There was palpable excitement among the nearly 3,000 crowd at the game every time Memphis got on the ball.

The Dutchman eventually gave the fans what they wanted, firing a penalty past visiting goalkeeper Juan Carlos with five minutes to play.

“It’s incredible,” Memphis said after the game. “I’m really happy to be wearing this shirt and to get my first minutes for the club. I enjoyed it so much. The fans were great with their energy and I loved seeing them in the stadium. I am so happy.

“I know everyone expects a lot at Barca. I’m going to work hard and I hope to have great moments with these supporters. I play football to entertain the fans. I hope to bring a lot of creativity. I always try to find the space between the lines and behind the defence, to score and make goals.”

Antoine Griezmann, Clement Lenglet, Miralem Pjanic and Frenkie de Jong were left on the bench for the first 60 minutes of the match but coach Ronald Koeman was still able to name a strong side. United States international Sergino Dest made his second start of preseason, with Pique, Sergi Roberto and Riqui Puig also involved from the off.

Girona’s Cristhian Stuani forced a fine early save from Inaki Pena and young left-back Alejandro Balde produced a key block to stop the follow-up going in before Barca took over. Balde was fouled as he danced into the box at the other end and Pique, taking the ball off Manaj, snuck the penalty in. Puig and Nils Mortimer then combined to set up Manaj’s fourth goal of preseason.

With Manaj off the field due to his head injury, Girona pulled one back. Saiz chipped a penalty down the middle after Nils had handled the ball at a corner and the Girona forward almost equalised moments later, hitting the bar from 25 yards.

With Memphis on, though, there was a change in the atmosphere and Barca started to create chances with ease.

Memphis twice came close, drawing a save from Juan Carlos before driving just wide. Griezmann almost got in on the act, too, while Pjanic hammered the bar with a free-kick from 30 yards.

Griezmann was then brought down in the area and, as the crowd chanted ‘Memphis,’ the new signing took the ball to crown a memorable debut.

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LIONEL MESSI AGREES NEW BARCELONA DEAL

Lionel Messi and Barcelona have reached an agreement for the forward to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, sources have confirmed. It was revealed that Messi has accepted a significant wage reduction to prolong his stay at the Spanish club

Messi was a free agent after his contract at Barca expired and he had courted interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City since first revealing a desire to end his 20-year relationship with Barca last summer. The 34-year-old’s previous contract was worth over €500 million ($594m) over four years and that expired at the stroke of midnight on June 30.

However, with the return of Joan Laporta as president in March, Messi grew more open to staying at Camp Nou. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.

Laporta had hoped to finalise an agreement before Messi’s previous terms expired. Barca’s financial problems made that impossible, though, with their gross debt over €1 billion. Cutbacks have been essential, in terms of transferring players out, reducing the wage bill and getting Messi to accept a lower salary.

La Liga president Javier Tebas had warned Barca they would not be allowed to register Messi’s new deal if they were unable to reduce spending to comply with the league’s financial fair play rules. Barca’s spending limit has been reduced from over €600m to €347m since the coronavirus pandemic, with further reductions expected to be imposed for the upcoming season.

Messi is on holiday with his family following his Copa America glory with Argentina last weekend, which was his first senior trophy with his national team.

He will link up with Ronald Koeman’s squad later in the summer, with Barca’s league campaign kicking off on Aug. 15 against Real Sociedad at Camp Nou.

Messi had first expressed a desire to leave Barca last August after the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. His relationship with then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu had reached a breaking point. In a September 2020 interview with Goal, after Barca had blocked his departure, Messi called Bartomeu a “liar” and said the board had been “making things up as they go along” and “plugging holes” for years.

Bartomeu, facing a vote of no confidence, resigned last October and was eventually replaced by Laporta in March. Laporta has a good relationship with Messi and his family. He was Barca’s president when Messi made his first-team debut and when he signed his first professional contract with the club.

It was reported back in April that Laporta was working on a contract renewal for Messi that included the option of playing in Major League Soccer before returning to Barcelona.

In public and in private, Laporta had always maintained that he was “convinced” he could persuade Messi to stay. The club have already made a series of signings this summer, bringing in Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia, as well as recalling Emerson Royal.

Messi first joined Barca’s academy in 2000 and has gone on to play 778 games for the club, breaking Xavi Hernandez’s appearance record last season. He has scored 672 goals, another club record, and has helped Barca win, among other trophies, 10 La Liga titles and the Champions League on four occasions.

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BARCELONA WINGER, FRANCISCO TRINCAO JOINS WOLVES ON SEASON-LONG LOAN

Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao has joined Wolves on a season-long loan with an option to make the deal permanent, the Spanish club announced on Sunday.

The 21-year-old is the latest Barca prospect to leave the club this summer, with defender Jean-Clair Todibo and winger Konrad De La Fuente having left the Camp Nou on permanent deals.

Trincao has made 43 appearances for Barca since joining from Braga for €31 million last year, scoring two goals and three assists.

The Portugal U-21 international has six senior caps, although he was not included his country’s Euro 2020 squad. He joins a strong Portuguese contingent at Wolves, having played alongside six of his new teammates in the national side.

“We’ve watched him a lot, especially over the last couple of months, so he’s been on our radar for quite a while,” Wolves technical director Scott Sellars said in a statement.

“He’s got loads of quality — signing for Barcelona from Braga shows what potential he’s got. He’s 21 and has played quite a lot of games in La Liga, so we think he’s ready for the Premier League.”

Tirincao is the first signing under new Wolves manager Bruno Lage, who came in after Nuno Espirito Santo left at the end of last season before becoming the Tottenham boss on Wednesday.

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MANCHESTER UNITED STAR, DONNY VAN DER BEEK OFFERS HIMSELF TO BARCELONA

Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek has sensationally made himself available to Barcelona ahead of a possible switch to the La Liga side, according to reports.

Van de Beek has struggled to earn a place in Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans since his £35million move from Ajax last summer and is apparently keen to seek regular football elsewhere.

Solskjaer handed the 24-year-old just four Premier League starts.

Two of those came during United’s final five matches – in the 2-1 defeat against Leicester City and in the 2-1 final-day victory over Fulham.

Van de Beek made played in just half of his side’s top-flight fixtures and often found the likes of Scott McTominay, Fred and Paul Pogba ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.

The Dutchman’s frustrations were compounded when he was forced to withdraw from the Netherlands’ squad for Euro 2020 due to a groin injury.

Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona appear to want a midfielder this summer to improve their squad following a poor season.

They tried and failed to sign Gini Wijnaldum, who will join Paris Saint-Germain when his Liverpool contract expires at the end of the month.

And Van de Beek has taken the opportunity to offer himself to Barcelona, according to report from Spain.