THE FINAL THIRD

spotted at FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

Yesterday it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaking out against his former club Barcelona after his move to AC Milan. Today it’s Javier Mascherano clearing the air about his move to Barcelona and why he did it.

Javier Mascherano’s desperation to leave Liverpool led the Argentina captain to take a pay cut to complete his £20m move to Barcelona. The midfielder has claimed broken promises – and not his family’s failure to settle on Merseyside – prompted his decision to force a move from Anfield. (continue reading…)

The always reliable “Guardian” is reporting that Javier Mascherano is on his way to Barcelona. The transfer fee is believed to be close to Liverpool’s £25 million price. Mascherano’s family never adapted to life in England, he also refused to play against Man city last Monday.
Reports in the Spanish media earlier this week claimed Mascherano had already agreed a four-year, £85,000 a week contract and, now that Liverpool have accepted a fee, the Argentina captain will travel to Barcelona for a medical this weekend.

The new 2011 Liverpool Away Jersey / Kit is super clean and classy with the red pin stripe. I personally love it when clubs go with a clean white jersey a la Real Madrid. This year looks to be a rough one for Liverpool as they were already dominated by Manchester City and players like Javier Mascherano are looking to jump ship.

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.

(continue reading…)

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson said he will appeal Joe Cole’s red card which forced the Anfield giants to play the entire second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal with 10 men.

Cole’s English Premier League bow as a Liverpool player lasted just 45 minutes when he was sent-off by refreer Martin Atkinson for a scything tackle on Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

It was the England midfielder’s first red card of his career.

(continue reading…)

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