El Profesor

The outlets reporting it are reliable. This is hardly a surprise, it seemed for quite a while now that Arthur wanted to play for Barcelona. I´m not sure about his playing time, but this is a conversation for 2019. You´re getting a really good player. Nice deal for Barça.

Arthur to Barcelona is a done deal. Finally. https://en.as.com/en/2018/02/20/football/1519147507_793808.html

I´m still in the first episodes but I´m really enjoying it. Barely started and I already liked "El Profesor".

Is anyone else watching the spanish series "La Casa de Papel"? The english title is "Money Heist" and it´s available on Netflix. Highly recommend. Plot synopsis: "Spanish television series whose plot revolves around the perfect bank robbery - in this case, not only a bank, but the National Coinage and Stamp Factory, the Royal Mint of Spain."

I agree. He´d be a better fit for Arsenal, with a french coach and more francophone players surrounding him. At Barcelona he looks kinda unsettled. Suárez and Messi have a very strong bond on and off the pitch and it must be a hard to an european kid to blend in.

Globoesporte is reporting the same. It seems that the parties involved acknowledge that Arthur is going to Barça and they´ll be meeting to set a price (around 25 to 30 million euros) and the date of Arhur´s arrival (July or December). The rich is getting richer. Arthur is a really good player and in this market that price is a bargain.

The standards required to play at Barcelona are probably the highest in the world and Mina is certainly going to face much better competition now. But in terms of media exposure and pressure, playing in a club like Palmeiras gives him a much better experience than playing in a mid-table european club. This is an important factor and this experience should help him to adapt. Palmeiras is a huge club and the fans are particulary tough and demanding, not to mention the non-stop media coverage surrounding Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo clubs. On the pitch, his passing is a bit rough at times, he will have to improve that, but he already has the physical presence and the instincts of a great defender. This is a great signing for Barcelona. The only downside is that Arthur won´t come now.

He´ll do just fine. Mina is really good and used to play in a club bigger than Barcelona.

Grêmio stated that they want 50 million euros for Arthur. So far, apparently, Barcelona doesn´t seem in a rush to deal with Grêmio. Barcelona´s board is well aware Arthur wants to join Barça but the deal will probably happen in July.

Marcelo is a great player, arguably the best left-back in the world, but isn´t this a bit too long? Especially considering the investment they made in Theo Hernández.

Barcelona is really not the same anymore. How dare they loan this club legend?!

Why didn´t Klopp like him? Was it his passing? Sakho is probably better than Lovren and Klavan, right?

https://www.barcaforum.com I´m not registered but I read some stuff they post there. Don´t abandon us though, I find debating with fans of other clubs much more interesting.

If the Coutinho deal goes through, Liverpool should not only take the money but also some players back. Cilessen, Digne and Sergi Roberto are players who make sense for them, in my opinion.

I think André Gomes is a central midfielder. The problem with him is that he is really slow, he has a nice pass, ability and elegance with the ball, but he just doesn´t have the intensity and the pace to play football at the highest level in 2017. In the 70s he´d have been great, but not in today´s football. He is the portuguese PH Ganso. Nice post, Spike. Regarding the proposals: 1) I´m with you, Mascherano should be sold. The problem is that he is one of the most popular guys in that dressing room and the players made the board know that no defenders should be signed in order to preserve Masch´s playing time; 2) Alba is still good and a better option than Digne, who is a good sub, but just doesn´t have the creativity and the offensive capability of Alba; 3) I also agree that Arda should be sold. But I read on TT that Rakuten is opposed to selling Turan because of his marketability in the Middle East; 4) I think Matuidi and Renato Sanches would make more sense, but now that they bought Paulinho, Valverde should see what he´s got; 5) Definitely. Sell, sell, sell! ; 6) I would sell Gomes and give Aleix one more shot; 7) Yes, that defence is thin, and that´s why they should play a 4-3-3 not a 3-5-2, and unless they sign another CB, I wouldn´t loan Marlon, they need depth there; 8) 100% agree, especially with Semedo looking capable of sticking as a starter; 9) I still think they lack a quality, elite midfielder to pair with Busquets and share the responsability in the distribution. Barcelona is still a very good team, especially with the Dembélé signing. As we´ve seen in the past few years, the pure strenght and quality of their attack can hide some of their weaknesses, even though the midfield problem hasn´t been solved. The start of the season will be really to important to Valverde. If he can somehow find an adequate midfield formation they´ll contend. That´s the key of the season. So far, on the midfield, the only thing I know for certain is that Busquets should start, other than that Valverde should give a fair shot to all players from that position and whoever makes the most of it should start the big matches. Forget about the names, if Rakitic and Iniesta are not perfoming drop them. I´d love to see Aleñá getting a chance to prove himself.

Leo, Suárez and Dembélé will form the LSD trio. That attack will blow our minds.

According to L´Équipe, Dortmund and Barcelona have agreed terms and Dembele is going to Barça. 120 million euros + 30 million euros on bonus.

What´s going in Spain?

If Barcelona wanted one of the PSG´s wingers, Draxler would be a much better option than Di María , in my opinion. Di María has had some good moments, but he just can´t sustain it over a season, he´s just too inconsistent. There are better players.

I guess it´s all up to how the loyalty clause was written in the contract. Was Neymar getting this bonus due to the fact he was already at the club for 4 years or because he´d in theory stay at the club until 2021? If I had to guess it´s probably the first, otherwise that bonus would´ve been paid in a later date.

haha Not really, Chris. On Mina, I think he´s a really good player. He´s strong, physical, has good defensive instincts and knows how to use his presence against attackers and also to score goals. Having said that, I´m not sure if he´s good enough to play for Barcelona. His passing and ability still leaves somewhat to be desired. Obviously, he still is young but there´s work to be done in this area, especially to join Barcelona. His countryman Davinson Sánchez, another very promissing young defender, has better skills with the ball and that´s why I think he´s more advanced than Mina. To sum up, I think Mina is already really good and will be even better, but he needs to improve his passing to take it to the next level. You know one south american who teams could regret passing? Emanuel Mammana. I´m still baffled Lyon sold him after only one season.

Seri is very dynamic, smart player. He is small, but he is everywhere and has a good pass. For a professional evaluation of Seri, watch this video :

I think Paulinho is indeed different from what Barcelona midfielders, André Gomes included. Gomes is really slow, like Ganso, he is a class, elegant player but his football simply doesn´t belong to this era, because he´s just too slow. Paulinho will add physical strenght and pace, his pass is not great, but he will accelerate and drive the team forward, also having some decent finishing for a player of his position. Honestly, I have no idea if Paulinho will succeed in Barcelona and like I´d have signed Matuidi before him but yes, he brings a different element to this team. He will probably fight with Rakitic for a starting position. Considering how bad Rakitic has been since last year, he could win it.

Oye, cálmate, El Cid! Ni todos los moros son terroristas. Seriously though, I think it makes a lot of sense to gulf investors to put their money in european football, they know that this is an industry on the growth and when the oil inevitably ends, they´ll own teams with an established fan base and worldwide reach. They´re smart. Have you read this Duncan Castles article? https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manchester-city-meet-lionel-messi-11021687 He brings some very good points, especially the fact that Messi has not oficially signed his new contract and that he could move for free next year. I think it can happen, Balon, and I understand why he´d want to leave Barcelona, this board hasn´t shown they´re capable to build a team good enough to fight for titles.

I´ve just read that Manchester City is ready to play the 300 million euros Messi release clause. If City really wants Messi this is the time to pounce, Barcelona is a mess right now and players are probably very frustrated with the direction of the club. Balon and Chris, don´t kill me, but I can see him leaving for City.