Maxwell Becomes Barca's First Official Signing

FC Barcelona's official website has reported that FC Barcelona and Inter Milan have reached the beginning of an agreement for the transfer of the Brazilian Scherrer Cabelino Maxwell Andrade “Maxwell” for a fee of 4.5 million Euros with an additional 0,5 million in variable payments. Now with that signing it is certain that we have neded our interest in Luis Fileppe of Deportivo. Deportivo was asking for too much for the left back and I have to appreciate the audacity with which our management found a replacement. Maxwell is expected to give Abidal a good fight for his position. And for all those Barca fans he has more attacking instinct than Abidal. It is not clear when we will complete the signing and how long he is staying in the club. The initail rumours says that he will be offered a contract which will keep him till 2012. With this signing we will have a capable cover for the space left by Sylvinho's absence.

Maxwell started his career with Cruzeiro. Then he joined Ajax in 2001 and stayed till his transfer to Inter in 2006. With Inter he has won three League titles and Italian Super Cup. He was also selected as the "Dutch Football of The Year" in 2004. He is good in going forward and can play in advance position. In his debut season Maxwell's superb solo goal against Parma was voted as the best Inter Goal of the season.

Valdes Extends Stay till 2014

Barcelona custodian, Victor Valdes has signed a new contract whihc will see him playing for the club till 2014. The contract negotiation with Barca's No.1 goal keeper and the club has been stalled in many occasion. Victor Valdes has been looking to improve his contract taking him par with the best paid players in the club. It is not yet known what will his salary but his buy-out clause has been set to 150 million Euros. There was huge drama with Valdes contract negotiations throughout last season. Valdes was looking for a better pay from the begining but in the middle of season it was rumoured that Barca were willing to part with their custodian as Valdes held firm on his demands. But the unavailability of any of the top Goal Keepers made Barca's job a tough one and they did come to a conclusion that Valdes was the best of the rest.

Victor Valdes may not be the best goal keeper around but he is still an above average one. He may not be an Iker, Buffon or Cech but he is still the best in one on one situation. So his contract extension is a great news for Barca. He is bound to make mistakes in some high profile matches but I have mentioned early - Valdes makes more match winning saves than mistakes in a season.

Yaya Toure Renews Contracy Until 2012, Hurray!!!

There were some tricky contract negotiations to be done for Barca this summer. Luckily they have concluded the most important one of all. Yaya Toure has signed a new deal which will keep him at the club till 2012. This one deal extension wwas shrudded in mystery for sometime. Especially with reports emerging about Guardiola's new found likeness for Mascherano. He was linked with a move out of the club and I have earlier written against any such move by the club - Guardiola Prefers Mascherano to Toure.The details of the new deal is not clear but he is sure to get a much better pay scale with this deal. The buyout clause has been raised from 66 million Euros to 100 million Euros. It is a great relief to fans like myself to see Toure extending the deal. He has been the most consistent performer in the last two seasons apart from Iniesta and Xavi. He compliment Barca's atatcking talent too well, you just have to watch that wonder goal against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final for a testimony.

Meanwhile there is not much clarity about the big signings in the transfer market. But as I said in my last post, most probably Filippe will be our first official signing of this summer. Mean while there are reports that Valdes will be signing a new deal very soon.

Filipe Luis Could be Barca's First Buy this Summer!!!

If all negotiations goes fine, Filipe Luis, the Brazilian left back who is currently with Deportivo could become Barca's first official signing this summer. Luis Filippe has been one of the major players in a good season for Deportivo in which they finished seventh. Sport.es has reported that the negotiations are still in advance stage. Deportivo is asking for 10 million for the left-back, who can also play in midfield. FC Barcelona currently is trying to lower the price by two million. With the departure of Sylvinho, Barca definitely needs more cover in the left-back position. The player has publicly stated his dream of playing in the Barcelona stripes, and the club also stated the same. So if everyting goes according to plan we should be able to sign him within the coming two weeks. But the biggest story right now circulating in transfer market is that - Barca has offered David Villa a four year contract. FC Barcelona also seems ti have made an offer of around 45 million for the Spanish Striker.

That big amount definitely means that Eto will be moving out to raise the money and it looks like Manchester City is well placed to grab the Cameroonian striker. Meanwhile Manchester United has also is reported to have tabled an offer of 47 million for David Villa, but the player for now has ruled out a move to England. Meanwhile with the days passing it looks like Ribery is interested more in a move to Real Madrid than Madrid. That makes it important for us to sign a guy who is good on the left side. we also would love to have an attacking midfielder as a cover to Iniesta and Xavi.

Villa Set On Barca Radar

I couldn't update regularly in last couple of days. But it looks like there was not much of development about Barca in Transfer Market. But the biggest news in Transfer Market as today is a reported 50 million bid for Valencia striker Villa. Valencia is reported to be asking for more but there is a high chance of Barca beating Real madrid to his signature. If that happens we will see Eto moving to Manchester City, most probably. But there were reports from England suggesting that Ferguson might be interested in the Cameroonian striker. But I doubt the credibility of that news and expects Manchester City to sign him as they will be the only one willing to pay his demanded salary. Meanwhile Villa and Barca has kept silence on all these rumours. Villa will be the perfect person to replace Eto as he can easily fit into Barca's style of play. Meanwhile the negotiations between Valdes and FC Barcelona has broken down for the n-th time. Valdes is looking for an improved contract which will put him on par with other stars in the team. Mean while Barca is reported to be keeping their plan B open, if Valdes leaves. Pepe Reina, Asenjo all are reported to be in Barca's radar.

Meanwhile it is expected that Barca will finally present Yaya Toure with a improved contract. After being told by Benitez that Mascherano is not up for sale, Barca looks like have decided to extend the contract of the best defensive midfielder in the world. Meanwhile Barca looks like to be in prime position to land Deprtivo La Coruna's Luis Fillipe. Juventus and Atletico Madrid are also in the race but Barca definitely has the advantage.