Barça increasingly optimistic about Coutinho departure

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After weeks of behind-the-scenes work, the Catalans look set to let go of the Brazilian

Selling Philippe Coutinho has been a priority since day one for Barcelona in the summer transfer window, and after weeks of behind-the-scenes work, it seems as though the Blaugrana are ready to make that happen.

That’s according to a long(ish) story by Diario SPORT, who claim that the Blaugrana have a “clear path” for Coutinho’s departure after negotiations with the player’s agent and silently working the market to get a sense of his value. There were no real offers on the table in the first few weeks of the window, but things have changed now.

Barça have two main options to make a deal happen: a big sale to recover the immense investment they made to sign Coutinho 18 months ago or a loan deal (including a big loan fee) with a mandatory purchase clause after a season on a slightly cheaper number. The Blaugrana understand Coutinho’s value has dropped since joining the club and are willing to take some sort of a loss, and a loan-and-buy (common in Italy, by the way) is a path they will go down if necessary.

The important thing here is that the report says Barça have an offer on the table, though they say the club are not giving any details away. The Premier League window shuts in a week, and there are some possibilities there: Arsenal have gotten creative in this transfer window with loans and installments, and they might be interested in that loan-and-buy for Coutinho if Unai Emery feels like they need one more attacker.

Manchester United have been rumored to sign Coutinho all summer, and they’re running out of options to improve the attack, especially if Romelu Lukaku leaves for Italy. They have the money to sign Coutinho straight-up, and that might be Barça’s biggest hope. Another interesting options? Manchester City, who might be selling Leroy Sané to Bayern Munich this weekend. If they do, is Coutinho an easy option for Pep Guardiola to pursue with just a few days left to sign players in England?

The fact is this is the first time we’ve seen some optimism from Barcelona regarding Coutinho’s departure, and that must mean something. How much it means only time will tell, but for the first time all summer we have actual teams that may actually want a player like Coutinho. That’s good news.

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FC Barcelona News: 2 August 2019

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Arthur is the latest new face to return to preseason training | Sport
Arthur Melo is the latest player to rejoin preseason training at FC Barcelona. The Brazilian has returned ahead of schedule and appeared at the training ground for this afternoon’s session. Arthur was expected back on Sunday after appearing in the Copa America with Brazil. However, after a few days in Ibiza, the midfielder returned and took part in today’s session.

Malcom misses Barcelona training, set for Zenit Saint Petersburg | Football Espana
Barcelona forward Malcom was not involved in training on Thursday as he completes his move to Zenit Saint Petersburg, report Marca. Everton reportedly made a firm offer of €45m for the player this week, with Diario Sport reporting that Zenit sporting director Javier Ribalta had personally travelled to the Catalan capital to complete a deal.

L’Equipe: Neymar will not continue at Paris Saint-Germain | Marca
It seems clear that Neymar will not continue at Paris Saint-Germain, such is the desire of all parties for him to leave. Linked with a move to Barcelona, the Brazilian is left in a state of limbo as things stand.

Inter Milan have a plan to sign Barça pair Rakitic and Vidal | Sport
‘Tuttosport’ say Conte doesn’t want just Vidal but also Ivan Rakitic too. The Croatian is available for the right price in this window but could be tempted to start a fresh challenge in Italy. Inter’s objective is to challenge for the Serie A title and advance beyond the group stages of the Champions League.

Quiz: How much do you know about the Joan Gamper Trophy game? | FC Barcelona
Show off your knowledge of the fixture that sees Barça take on Arsenal on Sunday at Camp Nou

Family Festival for the Gamper game at Camp Nou | FC Barcelona
After two preseason game in Japan, Barça will take part in the Joan Gamper Trophy game, their first game at Camp Nou of the 2019/20 season. The game comes just before the squad head off to the United States to continue their preseason with games against Napoli on 7 and 10 of August.

Barca legend Puyol rejected Real Madrid twice | ESPN
Former Barcelona defender Carles Puyol ​​has revealed he twice turned down the opportunity to sign for Real Madrid during his time at Camp Nou. Los Blancos first approached the Barca legend following his impressive performance against Luis Figo in El Clasico in the 2001-02 campaign.

The impressive Cruyff mural at Barcelona’s training ground | Marca
Johan Cruyff is responsible for so much of Barcelona’s success and the club have paid tribute to the Dutch legend with a mural on one of the walls of their training ground. The graffiti at the Joan Gamper Sports Centre contains some of the former player and coach’s most famous quotes.

One of Porto’s highly-rated youngsters says ‘no’ to Barça move | Sport
Tomás Esteves is a highly-rated youngster in his native Portugal. Plenty of Europe’s biggest clubs have kept tabs on the 17-year-old right back, currently at Porto, and Barça went one step further than most. According to ‘O Jogo’, the Catalan giants made an official offer to the player this summer. Porto turned the proposal down.

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Rumor Round-up: Oriol, Firpo, Rakitic, Vidal

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A look at the latest transfer rumors involving Barça players

Oriol Busquets set to leave Barça on loan

After playing as a right-back in preseason, Barcelona midfielder Oriol Busquets is set to leave the club on loan in the next few weeks, according to SPORT. Both the player and the club think it’s a better option to loan him out than have him play in the Third Division, and at least four European clubs have expressed interest: Granada and Mallorca want to keep him in La Liga, while Borussia Mönchengladbach and Sassuolo want to take him for a season in Germany and Italy, respectively.

All four clubs want an option to buy Busquets after a year, but both Barça and Oriol have no interest in parting ways anytime soon and a straight-up loan is the only offer the Blaugrana will accept. With many teams already interested and more to come, Oriol’s departure is only a matter of time.

No progress on Junior Firpo negotiations

Barcelona and Real Betis seemed to be closing in on a deal for left-back Junior Firpo, but over the last few hours the talks have stalled a little bit. Mundo Deportivo say Barça CEO Óscar Grau met with Betis director Federico Martínez for an informal chat, and neither was very optimistic after the meeting. In terms of actual negotiations, Betis first asked for 20 million euros plus seven in bonuses, with Barça countering with 18 million plus five. Betis then asked for 25 million with no bonuses, and Barça’s counter was 20 million.

Firpo wants to join Barça and his agent met with Éric Abidal, and they seem optimistic that a deal will be done. There is no rush from either club with two weeks still to go until the start of the league season, and the two teams are willing to keep talking until they reach a good deal for both sides.

Antonio Conte wants Rakitic and Vidal at Inter

The new Inter Milan manager is really keen on Arturo Vidal, but with Radja Nainggolan and João Mário on the way out Conte wants a second Barça midfielder on his squad: Ivan Rakitic. Tuttosport in Italy reckon that Rakitic is willing to leave and Inter has been rumored as a destination for over a year now. Other reports say that Vidal is untouchable but Rakitic can leave with a good offer, so if Conte strikes out on the Chilean then the Croatian would be the most logical consolation prize.

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The pros and cons of Barcelona re-signing Neymar

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A look at the good and bad of a possible deal for the Brazilian

Barcelona are enjoying a good preseason with their new players getting ample minutes to prove their worth to the club.

While the team still lacks strength in defence, they continue to be linked with former star attacker Neymar Jr., in a transfer that will not only grant Paris Saint-Germain copious amounts of money but also possibly two of our first team players, with Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic or Ousmane Dembélé rumoured to be the involved in the deal.

There is no doubt that Neymar was one of our finest Brazilian imports and an indispensable starter in every match but does this deal make sense at all these days? Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of Barcelona re-signing Neymar:

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Pros

• MSN trio back at it again

The Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio is perhaps one of the best things to happen to the Blaugranes this decade. The team had an able but slow midfield, so the attack needed to cover for them and did it beautifully. The trio supplemented each other’s talent and style of play so well that a match without one of them just wasn’t that comfortable. If Neymar returns to the Camp Nou, the MSN trio will be reunited to torment defences just like old times.

• Champions League chances will improve drastically

The last time Barcelona won the Champions league and Messi won the Ballon d’Or was 2015, the year when Neymar was an integral part of the team. After he left, nothing has worked out for the Blaugranes in terms of European ambitions. Coutinho and Dembélé have so far been unsuccessful in justifying their price tags and Barça have missed out on the coveted trophy, with the left winger’s spot not having been filled the way the club wants it to. With Neymar’s return our chances to win the trophy should increase as the ideal candidate to replace Neymar may very well be the man himself.

• Young midfielders will get a chance

With a lot of investment in this transfer and two starters possibly making the switch if Neymar moves back to the Camp Nou, Barça would ideally be shutting their shop for this transfer window. This means that youngsters can get a chance to feature for the team. With the likes of Riqui Puig, Moussa Wagué and Carles Aleñá performing well in limited minutes last season, this transfer will provide them with a great chance to upgrade their status in the team.

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Cons

• Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules will mar our ambitions

The UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP) were established to prevent professional football clubs spending more than they earn in the pursuit of success and in doing so getting into financial problems which might threaten their long-term survival. Neymar is one of the world’s best players currently but getting him back might get Barça into trouble. FFP rules have affected top clubs like Manchester City and PSG to name a few, and adding themselves to the list would be the last thing Barcelona would want.

• Too many attacking options, who will they bench?

Messi, Suárez, Neymar, Griezmann, Dembélé, Coutinho. If this isn’t enough, there are many fringe players and youngsters from La Masia looking for a chance as well. Who and how will Barcelona manage to bench any of these superstars, assuming Coutinho and Dembélé manage to stay in the club and fight for their place? In our pursuit of coming back to the very top, this problem could drag us down. Not to forget the tremendous wage bill that Barcelona will have to maintain, considering the whole first team has superstars with enormous salaries.

• Young attackers won’t get a chance

Carles Pérez dazzled against Vissel Kobe by scoring the winning goals. However, he is likely to see little or no game time in the first team if Neymar returns. Abel Ruiz is another player who has shown plenty of promise but Barça's young attackers may lose hope of ever starring for the first team knowing the squad is large and filled with experienced players.

• Morale and structure of the team will go for a toss

The summer of 2017 was a difficult one for the team, with the club striving to adjust to a life with Neymar’s sudden departure. After a couple of turbulent seasons and some legal disputes against the player, Barcelona are finally on their way to stability. But if Neymar is to join the club, much of that good work will be undone. The team’s overall morale and structure will be compromised and an unstable team, however good it may be, will never achieve anything fruitful.

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PSG set Neymar deadline

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The Ligue 1 champions want things sorted out very soon

Paris Saint-Germain do not want to wait until the end of the summer transfer window and want to make a decision on Neymar’s future as soon as possible, and they’ve now set a deadline.

According to a report from L’Équipe, the French club want to resolve his situation until the weekend of August 10th, which is when PSG make their Ligue 1 debut at home against Nimes. Manager Thomas Tuchel wants his squad set and settled for the start of the league, and after a few smart signings they want to get the sales done, including Neymar’s.

Diario SPORT report that no official offer from Barcelona has been made yet, and the club don’t seem to be in a rush to get a deal done as they’re focused on signing Junior Firpo from Real Betis, and they’ll only make a real approach for Neymar if the deal makes sense.

And a deal that might make sense according to a few reports is trying a Mbappé-style loan-and-buy: Mbappé joined PSG on loan from Monaco two seasons ago with a mandatory purchase clause after the first season, which helped with PSG’s financial fair play and allowed them to sign Neymar in the same summer.

PSG are open to let Neymar leave and might accept the loan-and-buy from Barça, but they will certainly ask for a truckload of money next summer and it’s up to the Catalans to do a good job with the negotiations to bring the fee down as much as possible. With basically 10 days left on the Neymar Window, the talks might finally heat up.

Whatever happens this probably won’t continue through the end of August, which is the best news about all of this.

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FC Barcelona News: 1 August 2019

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A round-up of the latest Barcelona news and transfer rumors

Messi, De Jong and Hansen, nominated for ‘The Best’ awards
The Argentine star, the young Dutch footballer and the Norwegian women's star are amongst the 10 finalists for the FIFA award for the best player from last season

Suárez and Wagué back at work
Uruguay and Senegal return to training after an extended break due to playing at their continental championships

Barça v Arsenal: Live on the official website
This Sunday, www.fcbarcelona.com will be streaming the first game of the season at Camp Nou (worldwide apart from the UK and Ireland)

Junior Firpo wants to join Barcelona from Real Betis | Football Espana
Wing-back Junior Firpo has told Real Betis he wants to join Barcelona this summer amid strong interest, according to reports.

Andres Iniesta: I will start coaching when I retire | Football Espana
Former Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta has admitted he will look to go into coaching once his playing days at Vissel Kobe are over.

Toni Duggan joins Atletico Madrid after Barcelona exit | Football Espana
England international forward Toni Duggan has signed for Atletico Madrid after leaving Barcelona, it has been confirmed.

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Barça will keep Vidal, want to sell Rakitic

The club have clear plans for the midfield duo

If Ernesto Valverde decides to stick with a 4-3-3 formation for his third season in charge at Barcelona, there are eight players currently fighting for three spots in midfield: Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Arthur, Carles Aleñá, Rafinha and Riqui Puig, and that’s not even counting Philippe Coutinho and Sergi Roberto who can also play in that area of the pitch.

Simply put, there are just too many players in the middle of the park, and the club want to do something about it. Rafinha seems to be on his way out, the wait continues on an offer for Coutinho and the expectation is that one of the two veterans, Vidal or Rakitic, will also be let go if a good offer comes.

But according to a report from Diario SPORT, you can cross Vidal off the transfer list. There is zero intention from Valverde or his bosses to let the Chilean leave after the revelation that was his debut season at the club. The coaching staff and the players love Vidal’s competitive spirit and the different skills he brings to the table, which is basically a much, much better version of Paulinho that defends better, fights harder and is more talented.

The decision of the Barça board is that Vidal will not be sold under any circumstance. They’ve already had an approach from Inter Milan and the Chinese Super League, but they didn’t even entertain listening to actual offers. Vidal is definitely staying.

The story is different with Rakitic: Valverde and the board are just fine with him on the squad since he’s been a good servant since joining in 2014, but they realize time may be up with the Croatian and will sell him if the right offer comes. They’re not as desperate with Rakitic as they are with Rafinha or Coutinho, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever if Ivan is gone.

The truth is one veteran midfielder must go, and it looks like it could be Rakitic. But definitely not King Arturo.

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