"Fed up" Mascherano reiterates Barcelona desire

Javier Mascherano could be the latest midfielder to leave Liverpool for La Liga after the player's brother said he wanted a move to Barcelona.

After Xabi Alonso reportedly handed in a transfer request in his bid to claim a move to Real Madrid, Mascherano's brother now claims the Argentine is keen on a move to their biggest rivals.

Sebastian Mascherano told Spain's COM Radio: 'If Barcelona really come with a very good cash offer, I believe Javier may leave Liverpool as it would be the best for him and his family.

'But I think that if there is no good offer, they will not let him go."

Mascherano's agent Walter Tamer said last week the 25-year-old is 'tired of life' in England with Pep Guardiola's side his preferred destination.

Now the Liverpool star's brother has claimed Mascherano is keen to link up with fellow countryman Lionel Messi.

'I am sure Messi and Javier have spoken,' he said. 'Leo is one of the people who have been pushing the most for Javier to play at Barca.'

Should Alonso be allowed to leave, Rafael Benitez will surely battle hard to keep Mascherano at the club.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic seals Barcelona move

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed a five-year deal with Barcelona and claimed that it was fuelled by being "fed up" with Milan and Italian football in general.

The Swede has a fracture in his left hand, but still passed his medical.
The Sweden striker has joined the European champions - with an astronomical buy-out clause of €250m in his contract - after he passed a medical in Spain, though scans did reveal a fracture in his left hand, and wasted no time in launching a parting shot towards his soon-to-be former club.

"When did I start thinking about moving somewhere else? In December, before Christmas,'' he is reported as saying on Tuttomercatoweb.it. "The more I saw Barcelona play, the more I wanted to leave.

"Moreover, I was fed up of Italy, of Milan, of your football: you play badly, there's too much stress. In short, I needed something else. Did Inter pay me more than any other footballer? No comment.''

A statement on Barcelona's website revealed they had paid Inter Milan €46m euros for the Swedish striker, with Samuel Eto'o and Alexander Hleb also joining the Italian champions in the 'swap' deal.

Barca confirmed that Eto'o is valued at €20m in the deal, while Inter will have the chance to buy Hleb for an initial €10m euros once his season-long loan spell is concluded.

Ibrahimovic, who will inherit Eto'o's number nine shirt at Barca and becomes the Catalan giants' third signing of the summer after Brazilian duo Maxwell and Keirrison, said Barcelona was an offer too good to turn down.

''It's a very big thing for me,'' he said. ''There comes a time when you want to develop more and my desire to come to Barcelona was too big to stay at Inter.''

And he revealed that Inter president Massimo Moratti had given him permission to leave several months ago should an offer from Barca arrive.

''Moratti helped me in every way, he did everything for me and my family,'' he said. ''I said to Moratti a few months ago: 'Nobody can get me, only one club can get me and that's Barcelona', and he told me: 'if you want it like that you will get it like that'.

''So all my respect, because it is not easy to sell player that means so much to the team,'' he said.

And the 27-year-old hopes to emulate Eto'o who was a prolific scorer during his time at the Spanish champions.

''I'm not coming here to be Samuel Eto'o, I'm somebody else, somebody new, but I will try to achieve as much as Eto'o, or even more,'' he added.

Barca president Joan Laporta hailed the Swede's arrival.

''He is not a conformist, he is ambitious, a winner, an authentic man with strong feelings and he wanted to come to Barcelona,'' he said. ''(Coach) Pep (Guardiola) said that Zlatan was the ideal player for us, so we are really happy to have him here.''

The former Juventus, Ajax and Inter striker will travel with the team to the United States, but will miss the friendly with Manchester City on August 19.

But Barca sporting director Txiki Begiristain announced that he is set to return for the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao four days later.

Begiristain added that he believed Ibrahimovic was the complete striker. ''He has great technical quality, can adapt perfectly to how we play and can hold the ball up - he is a complete player,'' he said.

Manchester City in talks with Adebayor

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Manchester City are reportedly in talks with Arsenal over the signing of Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

The striker has been linked with a move away from the Emirates all summer with AC Milan and Chelsea at the head of the queue; however, now that City have ended their interest in Samuel Eto'o, it appears the tall Gunners forward is on their list.

Negotiations are said to be at a 'significant level' and a fee of around £20m is believed to be enough to tempt the club into a sale.

Indeed, Sky Sports reports that talks have begun, with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger previously stating that he would not have a problem selling the player to a Premier League rival.

Last month Wenger said of Adebayor's chances of staying at the Emirates Stadium: "If he doesn't want to stay, he will leave. But I think that he will be still at Arsenal this season."

Adebayor has scored 62 goals in 142 appearances for the Gunners following his arrival from AS Monaco in January 2006 and reports have suggested the club could turn to Bordeaux forward Marouane Chamakh as his replacement.

Barca confirms Villa bid

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed the club have lodged a bid of over €40million with Valencia for striker David Villa.

A host of top clubs have been chasing Villa this summer, with Barca understood to have been locked in talks with Los Che for the past few weeks.

Real Madrid have already pulled out of the race to sign the 27-year-old forward, saying the price was too high.

Chelsea and Manchester United are both still interested, but Villa's preference is a move to either Real or Barca.

He recently called for a resolution to the situation, with the La Liga season fast approaching.

Now Laporta has confirmed Barcelona want to take him to the Camp Nou. He said: "He's (Villa) a player we're interested in, and we made a good bid for him, closer to €40 million than €50million."

Laporta also confirmed Barca would attempt to sign Franck Ribery, should Bayern Munich decide to sell: "He's (Ribery) a player we are interested in at a logical price. But Bayern don't want to sell. Although if they are interested in selling, we are interested (in buying). We need small adjustments; a left back, a central defender, a midfielder and a forward."

The Samuel Eto'o situation is no closer to being resolved, Laporta said. The Cameroon striker has been offered a two-year contract extension but has yet to respond, while Manchester City have put in an offer for him.

"I have called him a couple of times but he hasn't answered his mobile," Laporta said. "I don't know if he has changed the number or whether he's lost it, but I would like to speak to him."

The Barca president also said there is no way Lionel Messi will be leaving the club: "I love him a lot! He wouldn't leave Barcelona for any price. We are not selling, he has a clause of €150million, but more than that there his commitment to the club."

Laporta confirmed manager Pep Guardiola only has one-year left on his contract, but insisted both parties were content: "He's got a contract until the end of the season and he likes this situation."

Melo heads to Juve as Marchionni agrees Viola deal

Juventus winger Marco Marchionni has agreed to join Fiorentina in a move that will allow highly-rated Brazilian Felipe Melo to head in the opposite direction in a cash plus player deal.


Juventus will hand over Marchionni and €21m to La Viola to secure the services of defensive midfielder Melo on a five-year contract.

Melo, who was also a target for Premier League club Arsenal, had an impressive season for Fiorentina and was a key figure in Brazil's triumph at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

The 26-year-old will link up with compatriots Amauri and Diego - a €24.5m summer signing for Werder Bremen - in Turin.

The swap deal was originally expected to be completed on Wednesday, but transfer talks stalled over Marchionni's salary demands.

But on Thursday the Italy international's agent Bruno Carpeggiani said: "The situation has been unlocked, the player has accepted the offer from Fiorentina and is married to the Viola project.

"Official confirmation? We can say that it will arrive in a matter of hours."

Marchionni, 28, added: "Florence was always my first choice."

Newcastle confirm multiple £100m buyout bids

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has received at least two offers of £100m for the club.

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Managing director Derek Llambias confirmed on Monday that several bids at the sportswear magnate's asking price have been tabled as hopes of a quick sale grow.

He said: "There have been more than two bids at £100m.

"At the moment, we are in the hands of lawyers and it is all ongoing.

"We are giving interested parties all the help that they need."

The identities of the bidders remain a closely-guarded secret with all having signed non-disclosure agreements before being granted access to the club's books.

Llambias is understood to have shown a Malaysian consortium lead by Ananda Krishna around St James' Park and the club's training ground last week, while the Singapore-based Profitable Group and former chairman Freddy Shepherd are known to have held discussions with Seymour Pierce, the investment bank handling the sale.

However, amid suggestions that there have been offers at lower prices - the Malaysians were said to have bid £80m, but agreed to take on an overdraft of up to £40m - Llambias is adamant that £100m remains the figure prospective buyers need to meet.

The Magpies were put up for sale days after Ashley and Llambias held talks with Alan Shearer over the manager's job, and that vacancy is still to be filled.

Shearer is keen to take on the role, but it is caretaker boss Chris Hughton who is currently putting the players through their paces at a pre-season training camp in Ireland as talks behind the scenes continue.

Whoever does buy the club, time is fast running out before the start of the new Championship season on August 8 with the squad yet to be re-shaped and an annual wage bill which has been reduced to around £62m in the wake of recent departures, still way in excess of what a side outside of the Premier League can afford.

Barca star Busquets would welcome Mascherano

Links between Barcelona and Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano continue to strengthen after Barca midfielder Sergi Busquets insisted he would welcome the addition of Javier Mascherano to the treble-winners squad this summer, even though it could spell bad news for his own hopes of securing a starting berth.

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As one of the players whose position could be most threatened by the arrival of Mascherano, 20-year-old Busquets chose not to complain and instead of speaking of his excitement at linking up the Argentine midfielder.

Busquets said in El Mundo Deportivo: "No, the more players that come the better, and they will be welcomed.

"He is a magnificent player and hopefully he can be added.

"The most important thing is that the signings will add to the squad," said Busquets, who believes he has slightly different attributes to Mascherano anyway.

"He is also a defensive player, but perhaps he moves around a lot more conducting play and I maintain my position more and play the ball quicker."

Malaysian consortium given Newcastle tour

The sale of Newcastle United could have moved a step closer on Thursday after a group of Asian businessmen were shown around the club.

Press Association Sport understands the potential buyers, thought to be from Malaysia, were given a tour of the club's facilities today and have since returned to London to continue discussions.

There was no official confirmation of the story tonight, but with all interested parties having signed non-disclosure agreements, that came as no surprise.

But sources close to the club were not denying it either, and there is a growing feeling that an end to a saga which has rumbled on for more than a month could be in sight.

The identity of the group remains unknown, as do those of most of the consortia who have expressed a serious interest in buying the club.

Current owner Mike Ashley and the people closest to the ongoing negotiations were optimistic yesterday that significant progress could be made within 48 hours, and while there is still much ground to be covered, it appears things are now moving more rapidly.

Indeed, there is a feeling that a deal could be struck within days and the decisive move could be made next week.

A takeover would be effectively complete when the prospective buyer signed a sales purchase agreement, and they could then get on with the business of appointing a manager and starting to re-shape the playing squad.

Ashley put the club up for sale for the second time just days after the Magpies' relegation to the Coca-Cola Championship was confirmed on May 24.

At least four consortia have entered into detailed discussions, with an American-based group among the most advanced, while former chairman Freddy Shepherd has also been heavily involved.

However, Seymour Pierce, the investment bank engaged to handle the sale, have not put any deadline on bids being made and there has always been the possibility that someone could emerge from the pack to win the race.

Ashley has put a £100million price tag on the club and has insisted he will sell to the first consortium to come up with the cash.

A successful conclusion to the current talks would come as a welcome relief for the sportswear magnate, who handed over £134.4m to seal his takeover and has ploughed in around £110million since, although to disastrous effect.

Ramsey signs new "long-term" Arsenal deal

Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey has agreed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.

The 18-year-old arrived at Emirates Stadium from Cardiff last summer in what was understood to be a £5million deal.

Ramsey made 22 first team appearances for the Gunners, which started with the Champions League qualifier against Steve McClaren's FC Twente.

The former Cardiff youngster netted his first, and so far only, senior goal in the 5-2 European victory at Fenerbahce during October.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is more than happy with Ramsey's progress so far.

"Aaron made a very good contribution in his first season and he showed that he is a very intelligent player with great quality," said Wenger.

"He is still only 18 and we are really looking forward to seeing him develop with us in the forthcoming years."