THE FINAL THIRD

Pep Guardiola is hilarious as he answers questions regarding Gerard Pique’s stunt of placing a Barca shirt over Cesc Fabregas during post World Cup celebrations. His English makes it even funnier as he tries to come up with the perfect adjective to describe the mind of Pique, enjoy!

spotted at FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

The saga continues between Mascherano and his current club Liverpool.

Javier Mascherano took a step further towards a transfer to Barcelona with the Liverpool midfielder believed to have agreed personal terms with the La Liga champions. The two clubs, however, are some way apart in their valuation of the 26-year-old, with Barcelona offering €15m (£12.2m) plus Alexander Hleb and Martin Cáceres.

Despite the eagerness of Mascherano to leave Merseyside, where his wife and young family are believed to be unhappy, interest from other clubs had been tentative, with Barça’s sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, last week ruling out a move for the player, while Roy Hodgson had already publicly challenged Internazionale to meet Liverpool’s £25m asking price.

Whether Barcelona, who are believed to have debts of more than £350m (YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS GUARDIAN – WE ALL KNOW THIS IS NOT EXACTLY TRUE), can up their offer is unclear, and much depends on how highly Hodgson rates Cáceres and Hleb.

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“He is having to stay at a club where he no longer wants to be for another year,” Puyol said in The Sun.
“I wonder how intelligent it is keeping a player who doesn’t want to be there.
“After seven years of great service, I thought Arsenal could have granted him his dream move.”
“Cesc has given everything to Arsenal to try to win a trophy but they haven’t matched his expectations,” added Puyol.
“I won’t say he is in a prison, as we know how privileged we are as football players.
“But after how clear Cesc made it that he wanted to be in Barcelona, I thought they would have granted him that.”
“He is far too classy a guy to say it but the truth is he doesn’t want to be at Arsenal this season. His heart is already in Barcelona, even though we must wait another year for his body to be here.
“We know he is arriving next season. Barcelona have a whole year to sort the deal out.

Carles Puyol

Barcelona have reserved the No. 4 shirt for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas , according to the Spanish press.
The shirt worn by Barcelona legends Luis Milla, Ronald Koeman and current Nou Camp boss Pep Guardiola will be made available by Rafael Marquez , who is set to join Thierry Henry at the New York Red Bulls.

Fabregas is said to have an old  Barcelona No. 4 shirt signed by his declared idol Guardiola from the Arsenal player’s days in Catalonia.
And according to Mundo Deportivo, Fabregas will be given the shirt once he officially becomes a Barcelona player – a move which the paper says is imminent with a secret deal in the works between Arsenal and the Catalan outfit.
Mundo Deportivo reported on Tuesday that although both Barcelona and Arsenal have said publicly that the negotiations are at a standstill, in reality, the Fabregas transfer is at an advanced stage.

Fabregas is due to return to London this week and have face-to-face talks with Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger. But according to the Spanish daily, the meeting will merely be a prelude to Fabregas bidding the Gunners farewell.

Source: IMS Scouting  

It is almost a foregone conclusion at this point the Cesc Fabregas is staying at Arsenal this season and he will make a move next year back to his boyhood club Barcelona. For weeks we have been listening to comments made on both sides of the issue, but the primary source of controversy have been the comments from current Barca and Spain players on the subject. Today Andres Iniesta pretty much said it all.

Iniesta told reporters:

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Barcelona veteran defender Rafa Marquez looks close to signing with the New York Red Bulls. This morning I received a call about the deal which will see Rafa making around $2.8 million per year for 4 years. This would be the last Designated Player spot available to the Red Bulls.

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Oh yes!!!! Here it is with no further delay. The complete compilation of all 47 goals that Lionel Messi scored fro Barcelona in 2009 – 2010. He is simply not of this earth and clearly makes seasoned professionals look like boys throughout much of this video. Enjoy!