Ibrahmovic - Eto Swap is Now Official

FC Barcelona website has reported that Zlatan Ibrahmovic will be arriving at Barcelona on Sunday for Medical. At the same time FC Barcelona has given permission for Samuel Eto and Hleb to got to Milan for Inter Medical. In the end of the deal the only team which could be smiling has to be Inter as they got a quality striker and a good player plus some around 48 million Euros of cash to play with. It has been a good business for Inter than for Barca. Now Barca has to find immediate cover for other positions especially the position left by Hleb. There is a high chance that Gudjohnsen also will move away and we may need another one more player to fill that position. It is clear we will not be able to fund those transfer from Player sale and we also might have stupidly give more than what was needed to Inter. For me this is one of the most idiotic business done by the club in its history. FC barcelona never was a club who use to inflate price but in Ibrahmovic case we have followed the Madrid path. Laporta may deny it but there is no difference between Madrid's huge spending and Barca's this deal. Atleast Kaka and Ronaldo have more star value compared to Ibrahmovic. It is also yet to be seen how Ibrahmovic's arrival upset Barca's pay structure. Zlatan was the highest paid star in Europe, but because of lower taxes in Spain he will take a pay cut, but still it will be closer to the likes of Messi (the real superstar of the team).

Samuel Eto'o has been one of the most dynamic player in Barca's history. A player who succeeded last season evethough his coach never had a bit of confidence in him. Eto'o has been the outcast in Guardiola's squad last season, but everyone expected the wonderful performance last season might have made Guardiola re-think. But never, Guardiola works with his strange pre-conceptions. "Once an Outcast, Always an Outcast" in Guardiola's books. For the last few weeks most of the Barca supporters have ridiculed Eto for not putting club first. Why he should? Will all these fans who point their fingers at Eto put their Company ahead of their job and family. I doubt so. Eto was hired for doing a job; and simply put he did that with perfection. He don't need to see whether Barca made money form his sale, he was hired to score goal. It's plain and simple. many of these fans forgot that Eto'o has been an essential member in FC barcelona's resurrection in the recent past. He was an essential member in the Rijkaard era and did splendidly well in last season. How many centre-forwards are there, who have a 100% goal scoring record in UEFA Champions League Final. I thought Eto's wonder goal in this year's final turned the tie in favour of us. But majority of Barca fans always concentrated on his negative side. Eto is a very dynamic person, he could be a handful in dressing room and is more insecure than any of his team mates. But then traditionally centre-forwards tend to be more insecure than anyone in the team.

Everytime Barca is linked with a good centre-forward, Barca fans tend to highlight Eto's personality as a reason for the change. Sure he is a handful in certain situation, especially the tension he created after the criticsm of Ronaldinho in public was very hard to handle. But in the last two years he was very discliplined as far as i am concerned. Maybe Guardiola's treatment could have lighted the spark in him to excel well. And bloody hell he indeed did that. Another fact Eto haters put forward to ridicule him is his inability in air. Ibrahmovic maybe better than Eto in air but there is not much of difference between them. And to all those who thinks that Ibrahmovic is the answer to the "Park the bus mystery", I would say dream harder. The teams which parked the bus against us were Chelsea and Manchester United not some small team. Manchester United played a much iopen game against Inter last season and even then Ibrahmovic couldn't do anything. So it will be too much if we ask Ibrahmovic to solve that mystery for us. In the end this is a good deal for Eto than Barca. For a player it is always better to work with a boss who respect his contribution, and Guardiola does not do that.

Has Eto Agreed To Leave Barca?

Reports are emerging from Spain that Samuel Eto has finally agreed to a 9 million Euro a year deal with Inter. There has been no confirmation from both the clubs but the players agent was recently quoted - that a deal is imminent. The whole saga of Eto - Ibra swap has taken some crazy twists recently. One media report suggested that Barca is ready to scrap the swap agreement and pay 75 million Euros for the Swede striker. That showed the desperation of Barca management to sign Ibrahmovic. With Eto agreeing to terms, this can be considered as the biggest signing of Barca history (it is still not clear whetehr Hleb is includede in the deal). Laporta earlier this season criticized Real Madrid for their extravaganza and inflation of the transfer market. He also recently defended the Ibra-Eto swap deal as nothing similiar to Madrid's transfer this season. But I am sorry to disagree with Laporta on this. Real Madrid with their purchase of Kaka and Ronaldo inflated the transfer market out of proportion. If the Ibra-Eto deal goes through we will be doing the same. Madrid atleast can justify that they have paid these enormous amount tow former WPOY. We can't even do that.

Samuel Eto has been an essential part of Barca's success for all these years - first with Rijkaard and now with Guardiola. It is not a huge surprise that he scored in both of Barca's triumph in Barca's greatest triumphs till date - the Champions league final in 2006 and 2009. With Eto one thing was guranteed - Goals. Ibrahmovic is a slightly different kind of player but more technically gifted. But he initially has to fit into the 4-3-3 formation we play so well. And with the price tag associated with him he has to score atleast 25 goals in league this season. Now that would be a huge expectation to live with. Many of the people point out that we have to change the team as we have won everything last season and they are firmly behind such a huge move. They all fear that not acting now will repeat the failure of 2006-07 season. But honestly how many of you have recommeneded to have Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto sold out after the 2006 Champions League final triumph? The truth was that Rijkaard lost it completely interms of discipline after that seasona and we basically paid for that. Still this deal could be good but the price of this is cannot be justified.

Another statistics that has been put forward to justify this deal was the aerial ability of Ibrahmovic. He was billed as Barca's potential answer to the Bus-Parking done by Chelsea this season and ManU a year before. Ibrahmovic is much better than Eto in air but I don't believe that he will be that good agaisnt the Chelsea and Manchester United defense. Last season I have watched the ManU vs Inter match and he looked impotent in that match. Maybe we can hope that maybe a one-off game. But he could be real threat when it comes to free kick. After the departure of Ronaldinho we were quite innefficient in this field and we could add another weapon to it by Ibrahmovic signing. Again then it is yet to be seen whether he will track back to help defense like Eto has done in all his times at Barca. It is quite surprising that Barca fans who yelled out at Madrid's huge signings weeks before is seeing this huge signing in a different angle. They justify this saying that it is essential for FC Barcelona at this point of time. But then it is quite surprising to see them crying foul at Madrid's signing as it was essenitial for Madrid to bring in major players after such a succeful season for their traditiona rivals.

4 Reasons Why Eto Won't Leave in Summer

English Tabloid "The Daily Mirror" has reported that Samuel Eto has rejected a chance to move to cash rich Manchester City. Manchester City was reported to be ready to splash 39 million for the service of the Cameroonian striker. Samuel Eto has been in the midst of a contract negotiation and that has resulted in so many rumours. Samuel Eto's current contract ends up in 2010 and it is reported that FC Barcelona don't want a situation where they end up not making any money of the striker. At the start of the season Guardiola was not interested in the Cameroonian and tried every possibility to offload him. But now he has revamped himself as a essential part of Barca's plot. He is looking to get a better contract and all the time and that has lead to all these rumours. But I have reasons to believe that he will not make the shift:

1) La Liga is The Best:

I am not opening a debate of which league is better here. But for a striker like Eto, I think La Liga is the best. Every La Liga team emphasise more on attack rather than defense. Most of the league like EPL or Serie A emphasises more on defense. Eto is a poacher, 80% of his goals will be simple tappin or easy finishes. His vision and aggression makes those 80% chances. In Premier League or Serie A teams tend to be more organised in defense and will take more effort to score, especially the top four.

2) The Best Supply Chain:

No where in the world he will find a supply chain like Barca's. Iniesta and Xavi are world's best playmakers and creates tons of chances for Eto. Actually for every goal he scores he wastes 2, but that is the pace with which Barca play. Even Henry has been assisting him well for Goals.

3) Linking with Messi:

Messi undoubtedly is the best player in the world. Every striker's dream is to play with best player in the world. He already had the fortune of having Ronaldinho supplying him with assists early on, and his understanding with Messi makes everyone believe that he can surely recreate the same.

4) Competing In All Places:

At FC Barcelona he has a better chance of winning trophies than anywhere. Winning trophies at Manchester City could be very tough. Inter may be the Champions in Waiting in Italy, but their form in Europe is very poor. AC Milan may do well in Europe but then they are inconsistent in Italy. FC Barcelona will be a force to reckon with in every competition. They are always the first or second favourite of bookies.

Taking all these into consideration, it is difficult to believe that he will prefer to leave Barca. Barca will offer him a better contract this summer, and I am pretty sure he is going to take that. Do you think that Barca should sign a striker even when Eto decides to stay?

Eto Walking On A Tight Rope

Eto reportedly is stalling any progress on his contract negotiation with FC Barcelona. Eto's contract is set to expire by end of June, 2010 and both the parties involved wants to extend it further. Then what is stalling the process? It is reported that Eto has demanded the club to make him on par with Lionel Messi in terms of wages. According to www.futebolfinance.com that might be a whooping 7.5 million Euros. I am pretty sure that the club will not concede into paying him on par with the "Best Player in the World"; even Eto knows it. So all this is to get a bigger price for his current form. FC Barcelona could be in a confused state, they may not be clear about the approach to be taken over here. Eto was clearly an unwanted element as far as Guardiola was concerned at the start of the season. But he remarkably turned things around and got the confidence of both the fans and coach back. The club have resisted the temptation to declar public interest in the likes of Benzema and Villa due to the Cameroonian's tremendous form.

Hopefully Eto and Barca can reach an agreement pretty soon. But if they fail then we could see FC Barcelona pushing hard for Benzema and Villa, or may be even Torres. But the fact remains that Eto was the best striker in the world for some time. He is not the one who will do unbelievable stunts to change the course of the match; but he will put the ball back in the net again and again. What you need more from a striker? Especially with the way Barca play a striker like Eto is essential; but if he decides to move on who should be the best option? It has to be either Villa or Tevez, they both are compulsive poachers. Many clubs has recently stated about their interest in signing him, most notably Mourinho's Inter Milan. But this hold could be a temporary hold and we could soon receive the good news of Eto extending the contract beyond 2010. Mean while MundoDeportivo has covered a story where they claim that Bojan Krkic has rejected an option for winter transfer to Hoffenheim, Ajax and Marseille. I don't know whether this is true but sound to be good news. All the best to the kid.

The Eto Dilemma

Guardiola has clarified earlier that Eto, Deco and Ronaldinho will not be in part of his new Barcelona plans. Simply put that was the easiest way of putting the blame of two off season on this terrific trio. Ronaldinho's decision made sense as the player has lost his motivation at Barcelona and it was good for him and the club to find a better pasture. Deco had two poor seasons and obviously would have to move out of the club and let's hope he does well at Chelsea. But the surprising addition to the outcast was Samuel Eto. Eto missed the majority of the last season through injury but still had the best record in terms of goals scored against minutes played. He has always been a dynamic character both on the field and off the field. But the excuses leveled for getting him out of the club like "his presence would be bad for the dressing room" did not deserve any merit. There was no doubt that Samuel Eto was an unhappy man; he was unhappy when Gudjonsen was signed and the arrival of Henry did escalate it a bit further. But no one can accuse him of not performing his duties. So it was a big surprise for everyone when he was termed as the discarded in Guardiola's plans. Guardiola in his rush to show to his toughness to media might have missed some tricks in case of Eto. Eto's recent performance against Chivas has left even Guardiola wondering about the next course for the striker.

The way he combined with Messi in Dundee United match has already raised expectation of Eto's staying and completing his contract. Messi himself has urged the club to take a decision in that path. But Guardiola is not giving any indication of that going to happen. But one thing is for sure; Guardiola is going to be in dire straits once Eto leaves as the replacement would take some time to settle and Barcelona fans surely would be demanding more this season. Henry, Guardiola's preferred partner (I don't know why) has already shown signs that he is going to have a great season like last time. Taking all these into consideration let's hope Eto stays. But in reality this looks very bleak. First of all Eto has showed his displeasure in the way he was treated by the club, especially Guardiola. Second if he continues his good form in the pre-season, those hesitating clubs could jump in and sign him for whatever price. You should remember that Roma, Milan and all pulled out of Eto deal due to the remuneration Eto was asking. The thought that it was pretty high and if he continues his form they are going to think the other way. So it is better to see what option lies ahead in front of Barcelona

The first person who comes to mind as a possible replacement to Eto is the great Ivorian Drogba. There is no doubt that both players are equal in stature. Both are a bit different; but there is no doubt that Drogba could be the best replacement for Eto. Drogba has not known for his prolific goal scoring record like Eto; but then it should be remembered that Chelsea play a more defensive way of football. But when you compare both strikers, Drogba for me has a bigger presence in big matches compared to Eto. I am not saying that Eto has not performed in bigger matches, but Drogba always used to perform something spectacular against tougher opposition. Now the big question, will this deal be possible? Drogba has indicated of his intention to move out of Chelsea but the club may not let him go for whatever price. Second and the most important factor could be he is currently recovering from injury and how his form recovers also need to be seen. So at the present moment signing of Drogba looks far.

The next person in line is Berbatov. He is one striker whom I admire. He should be motivated to do well in the highest level of European football. He has the habit of dropping back to help out the defense and links well with midfield in creative play. But can he emulate an Eto is still a big question? Secondly with Manchester United interested he may be tempted to stay in London. The third is Benzema; the Lyon striker was the first one to be linked with Barcelona. But a disappointing Euro campaign might have killed the move. The club looks like interested in him, but the player and Lyon are ready to wait for some time to get the best deal. The next one is Adebayor. It was surprising that after just one good season he was treated as a super star. He is a good striker, but no where near the class of Eto. Luckily the move looks like over and Adebayor is desperately trying to win back the Arsenal fans. Then there was Pavylechenko, but he looks like more interested in joining premier league. Then Villa, who looks like a good option but will be very hard to realise the deal.

So the picture becomes clearer now. It is going to be very tough for Barcelona to find a replacement for Eto. The most sensible thing for Guardiola is to stop being adamant and get Eto involved in his plans. But I doubt that is going to happen. All these will depend on one big transfer, Ronaldo's transfer to Madrid. Once that happens we might see frantic selling between top clubs.

Sweet HeadAches

With the 4-0 away victory against Murcia, the spirits should be high in the Barcelona Camp ahead of the second leg match against Sevilla. In the form of the away Goal, Barcelona has a definite advantage in this tie. But as we have seen in the past barca also has a disastrous tendency of folding down at the crucial juncture. How much inspiration can be taken from the Murcia match will be another question, especially considering that we managed to lose to Madrid after an excellent away win against Valencia.

With that sense i will prefer the team start the preparation a little cautious. In the match against Madrid we could not carry the excellent form of the previous match because there were too many changes in the side. In this match also there will be some changes, especially centre forward position. I will come to that a little later. I expect Thuram to be replaced by Milito, apart from that and the Centre Forward position, there should not be anymore changes. Gudjonsen and Xavi looked good in the midfield role and should continue there. Marquez is the only choice available for Defensive Midfielder role. Don't even think of putting Iniesta there, especially in a match against Sevilla. Zamrotta should be the out and out choice for Right Back.

But the most significant of changes will be in the forward lineup. Many says in the forward position Rijkaard is facing a problem of plenty. Is he? I don't think so, that is the reason why I have titled the article as "Sweet Headaches". For the last two to three matches, Henry is our best player along with Marquez. Saturday he was marvelous. Many attribute his sudden change in the form to the prolonged rest he got during the injury. I do believe that rest might have done him a world of good, like in the case of Eto also. But I don't think that is the only factor contributing here. From the last two matches he is playing in a position which he was so used to at Arsenal. In Arsenal he may not have been playing so much to the left, but a little close to the centre. In the initial time in Barcelona, he donned the role of a Centre Forward and literally failed. But when he moved back to his natural position, because of Ronaldinho injury - he started giving the glimpses of old Thierry Henry. So Rijkaard should prefer him to stay at the front left. Now the question is that who will play the Sole Centre forward role. If you look at the option

1) Gudjonsen - He looks settled in the Midfield.

2) Ezquerra - He also prefers either of the flanks.

The only option left here is the two kids - Giovanni and Bojan. Out of these two, Bojan looks like a more natural Centre Forward than Giovanni. Now if you add the two injured players - Messi and Ronnie, none of them can don the role of a natural Centre Forward.

I believe that Rijkaard will move Henry to the centre of the plot. I totally disagree with that, he should move Bojan to the centre and have Iniesta at the right. Many may not agree with the my views, many believe that since Barcelona forward players interchange their position very effectively in the course of a match - they can start at any place. I don't agree with that. They all prefer to start at their favorite places. Maybe and I hope and pray, Henry proves me wrong if he is moved to that position. But I believe like a Centre back, the Centre forward is also a specialist position. Nobody can even think of pulling a defender back to open up space like Eto did in last match. Saviola would have fit to that position - but he is not here.

Now coming to the Sevilla side, watch for that Brazilian duo - Fabiano and Alves. they have hurt Barcelona in the past and could hurt us tomorrow. With the 2-0 loss at Bilbao, their spirits maybe a little low. So take the attack to them early. And like the last match Barcelona should defend up front, the forward line should keep on putting pressure on their defenders.

On the organization front Barcelona is contributing more to the society by means of tying up with United Nations Refugee agency (ACNUR). The formal agreement will be signed on January 22 in Geneva. This is in addition to the agreement with UNICEF. "The two bodies will unite their efforts to help work together with their respective programs and to build common initiatives that try and bring a new quality of life to child refugees. A delegation from the club's Fundaciò, headed by President Joan Laporta, will travel to Geneva to finalise the agreement in the ACNUR headquarters. The former Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Gutérres, will receive the delegation as his role as head of the agency." - FCBarcelona site. For the Barcelona fans these are moments of pride and honour. When almost all the clubs are running after money and more advertisement, Barcelona still care to look into the more complex social and economic issues related to the society. The founders of the club will be proud to see that the younger generation still believes in the purpose of this great club. And these measures are truly the one which makes Barcelona - More Than a Club.

Time For Damage Control

Barcelona Injuries to Eto'o, Messi and Saviola have left Barcelona's season in the balance. It will take something special from the rest to limit the damage before they can recover, or reinforce.

Rewind to August, and the talk of Barcelona was whether Saviola would be surplus to the club's needs - a luxury. The Catalans were desperate to offload the Argentine, to the point that they even offered him a letter of freedom.
Barely three months later, injuries to Messi and Eto'o have left their attack crippled. Just as it started to look like Saviola would turn saviour, even he was sidelined.
There have been injuries previously too - Larsson, Motta, Edmilson two years ago, Xavi, and Messi last year - but it was spread over the pitch, allowing them to recover. Its three forwards this time, and with a wafer-thin forward line remaining, it looks very slippery.
Nobody was willing to consider reinforcements when Eto'o was injured - maybe rightly so, maybe not. They were still just as dismissive when Messi was ruled out. But within hours of that, Saviola's muscle problems came to the fore, and the tone started to change.
From a 'we don't know', it turned into a 'maybe', and now, Luque, Larsson and Palacio are firmly placed on the Catalans' radar.
Yet there is little they can do until January, as an emergency signing requires a five-month injury layoff. Barcelona's only chance was when Eto'o was injured, but they had no way of knowing that it could go so wrong.
That said, they were guilty of underestimating the Cameroon international's importance. You have to ask yourself if Chelsea would have signed a Drogba replacement, or if Real would have covered a hypothetical Ruud absence. The answer, unfortunately, puts Barca on the wrong side of the fence.
The Catalans now have four players - Ronaldinho, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ezquerro - for three positions, and must make do with that at least until January.
They still lead La Liga, but it's so close at the top that a couple of bad weeks could see them drop outside the top four. The problem, however, lies elsewhere. They must win both their remaining Champions League games to qualify for the knock-out stages, and it is not clear that they have an edge over a very dangerous Werder Bremen with the attack that remains.
It is surprising that even now - at a time when the club need to put their hands up and say: 'yes, we need to reinforce,' with no strings attached - sporting director Txiki Begiristain indignantly argues that Iniesta and Deco can also play in more advanced positions, conveniently forgetting that it is bite up front that is the real problem.
One understands that success has made them confident, and that has its positives, but there is a fine line between that and arrogance. Txiki continues to insist that Giovanni Dos Santos - arguably a natural replacement for Messi - should not be called up from the junior team, as it is more important he remains available for Barca B.
One more injury or suspension could leave them with absolutely no options on the bench, making two games a week almost impossible to cope with. Even if they are lucky hereon, the impact on the players still available will be felt come April, when thin squads start to burn out.
Ronaldinho and Giuly look set to play two games a week for the next two months, and one has to wonder whether Barca can even afford to compete in four remaining competitions - including the Intercontinental Cup.
There is only one way forward - damage control, followed by Larsson's arrival on January 1.
Barcelona have to put everything into the two Champions League games, even if that means dropping points in La Liga. The away clash against Levski Sofia isn't going to be a cake-walk, and Werder Bremen at Camp Nou on the final matchday will be even tougher. Not qualifying is not an option!


Once they have secured qualification, they can throw everything into the League, and hope that the Intercontinental Cup doesn't take a lot out of them. They must use their reserve team shrewdly in that competition, rather than allow their marketable stars to burn out for the sake of some extra publicity.
The only silver lining is that there are a few relatively easy League fixtures coming up, with the Real Madrid, Valencia, Deportivo, Zaragoza and Sevilla games all behind them, but they will only make the most of that if they set themselves up for it.
As for new arrivals, Palacio or Luque are both good players, but if they take two months to settle in, the very purpose is defeated. The Argentine can wait for the summer. Larsson, and only Larsson, can solve their problems.
But even before that, it is going to take something special, along with a lot of luck, for four players to fill three spots, and carry the team through to January without slip-ups. It could be Rijkaard's biggest test since the torrid four months at the start of his tenure three years ago!

More Headaches for Frank Rijkaard

Javier Saviola has been ruled out for between four and six weeks after straining his thigh. The injury, together with Leo Messi's, leaves Barça with attacking problems.

After losing Eto'o and then Messi, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard must now contend with the absence of another forward in Saviola. The Argentinian striker has suffered "a small tear in his left thigh muscle," said a club medical bulletin. "The injury is in a risky area and it will take four to six weeks to recover from."

The former River goalscorer netted Barça's third of the night against Zaragoza, but incurred the injury in virtually the last action of the match. In the absence of Saviola, Rijkaard now has four forwards, Ronaldinho, Ludovic Giuly, Santi Ezquerro and Eidur Gudjohnsen, to choose from for the last few weeks of 2006.

Messi set for Tuesday surgery

The club's medical team have also said that Messi, who will be out for around threemonths, will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair his broken metatarsal bone in his left foot. Antoni Dalmau will be the doctor performing the surgery, which will take place at 9am in the Hospital Asepeyo in Sant Cugat.

Doctor Dalmau and Doctor Ricard Pruna, will then hold a press conference at 1pm in the Camp Nou.

These all players will be available for selection from January 2007, If they recover within the schedule. Barcelona has tough times ahead with Chamion League Qualification and World Club Championship lying ahead in the schedule.. The Three key members in the squad has to start firing in all cylinders - Ronnie, Deco, Xavi