SirBalon

Semedo: "I will give everything I have for Barça!" Players say many things on their presentation day at whatever club they sign for but this is the first time where before any questions have been asked that the statement is such a resounding one. Yesterday evening Nélson Semedo was presented as a new FC Barcelona player where he completed his transfer from SL Benfica to FC Barcelona. The price is an initial €30m to be paid in one lump sum but there is a clause that's rather incredible which is that every 50 official games Nélson Semedo plays for Barça in his initial contract which lasts till 2022 the club will have to pay an extra €5m. Semedo has renounced on his holiday period and will now fly straight to Japan where the team are starting their pre-season tour. Messi and Suárez have also cut their holiday (in Messi's case his honeymoon) by two weeks to start preparations early for next season with the team.

Official: Dani Ceballos moves from Real Betis to Real Madrid It's now official and announced by both Real Betis Balompié and Real Madrid CF that midfielder Dani Ceballos is now a Real Madrid player. The contract is a large one with a six year deal and a €150m buy-out clause. The signing has gone for apparently €16.5m which is a coup for such a talented player although it's yet to be seen how much he is used by his new club Real Madrid. Quique Setién, Betis' new coach tried to convince him to stay one more season under his coaching skills but the player understandably didn't want to let this train pass him by. Dani Ceballos will be presented next Thursday at 13:00hrs at the Santiago Bernabéu. Las cuentas del fichaje de Ceballos por el Madrid

While SL Benfica are saying the deal isn't fully closed as of yet, Semedo has passed his medical and has also voluntarily renounced his holidays and asked to join the team on their pre season tour. A good start that will go down well with the club and the fans. The typical thing Messi always does by coming back very early.

Nélson Semedo arrived in Barcelona for his medical this morning. If all goes well Semedo could be presented this evening or tomorrow morning. Semedo ya está en Barcelona I saw a bit of Semedo last season when I watched Benfica and I know he is good. My only question is, is he good enough for Barça and is he better than Aleix Vidal. @Machado ?

Apparently the medical department is really good at Sampdoria and he could be going out there to test it for Arsenal and get some secrets. It won't be long before he needs to use it.

The price being banded about by journalists in the know about Arsenal were saying that Arsenal wouldn't listen to anything under £55m for Bellerín which is a total no no for a defender especially one that came out of La Masia. Barcelona would be mental to pay that amount in these circumstances which makes the Semedo signing a much better one.

Only yesterday he said he could be leaving. It's a shame we could be losing him as a squad player... He's nowhere near good enough to be a first teamer but he would be brilliant to have coming off the bench.

The reason why Barça are hesitant to go all in for Héctor Bellerín is because of the price it would take to bring him in. Don't believe the paper talk which changes from day to day depending on who's the next real transfer prospect. There's a lot of bias in the regional sports papers in Spain where all of these things are concerned. Aleix Vidal is still there and before he got unfortunately injured last season, he had gone on a fantastic run, a run which was the reason Luis Enrique wanted him so much. There's no doubt another right-back is needed and there's the conundrum. Kyle Walker being English and playing in the Premier League will be overvalued for what he is and that's probably why they're not going in for him.

He's actually a very talented young player and a definite coup by Real Madrid. Real Madrid are now on pretty bad terms with Atlético Madrid (the club Theo was at) due to how Real handled the signing. There's another anecdote on his presentation day where he was asked to kiss the badge on his shirt for the press and as with Isco, he refused to do it and limited himself to touching it with his right arm. The kick-ups thing on presentation day is a tradition that's been going on for decades and he isn't the first to mess it up. Thierry Henry for Barça did it, Figo for Barça got it wrong to and I remember being at Ever Banger's presentation for Valencia years ago where he made a pretty big mess of it.

What's an "Arsenal Level Player" these days anyhow? Over the past decade those players you've mentioned are the level we have except for Alexis and Özil on paper and when the team goes on a run. This is our level!

Massive blow for Real Madrid but not in the traditional sense of where a club lose a top player (not that he isn't, just that he hasn't been all that much there). This is a big blow for Florentino Pérez and a boost for those fighting against him in the background at the club.

Monchi

Typical Spurs fans coming on here to try and give it the biggun. It wasn't even a blip last season because we won the FA Cup and to be honest everything is top notch at Arsenal. The fact we've bought Lacazzette is frivolous in my opinion because absolutely nothing was needed. We have the best and all we need is a break...

I'm not sure what you're getting at there in this particular point of the club. I'm interpreting it as you saying that the only options Barça "socios" are getting is a selection for election of a figure head. If this is the case, then that's erroneous because as in politics (not that politics is a fine example these days of diversification at the moment of selection) you get a choice of various groups standing for election with their own manifesto, their own vision of how the club should be run with priorities for the following 4 to 5 years. With a PLC such as most clubs these days, you don't get any choices on what you want to prioritise. With a PLC you answer to shareholders and shareholders look at their pocket and the best ways of adding more change to that bottomless sack in their trousers. Arsenal fans have been complaining and manifesting themselves vocally for a while now with it all becoming more and more acute as time has gone by and they (the club) have even vetoed questions that can be asked by minor shareholders that happen to be fans and that are permitted by the rules to attend AGMs. I know what I'm talking about in all of this and where there is no perfect manifestation of how things should be done in any sector because as you said, they all have flaws. There are lesser evils and there are formats that are more inclusive of those that matter.

I'd rather have a club functioning on the ideals football association was built on than a PLC mate where the shareholders matter and only them.

He hasn't gathered all the necessary votes but is close. Toni Freixa (my personal favourite) and Laporta (again) are in the process of doing the same thing. Indeed the fans can censure the president and has been done various times before with Bartmoeu himself two years ago and Laporta most famously for spending stupid money on things aside from what should've been spent on. Barça is a democracy! Unlike my club Arsenal where the majority of fans don't want the board and can't do anything about it. At the few clubs remaining like FC Barcelona, you can. The fans own the club!

A vote of no confidence on who? The president?

The new jewel at La Masia is called Cristo Cristóbal Muñoz, "Cristo" as he's known at the age of just turned 12 becomes the new jewel in the crown of La Masia coming in from outside as Iniesta and Messi done so many years ago. 'Cristo' is from Almería in the south of Spain and was formed in the infancy stage at UD Almería. Cristóbal has been the object of a battle with Real Madrid that even managed to go very public over a week ago and made the front page of a national sports newspaper. La Masia versus La Fábrica is an ongoing "who produces more" argument and in the past two years or so the present FC Barcelona board haven't done too much to show the care and attention that has historically been given to the most important thing about the club which is it's youth levels. If there's one thing that has always been above all else at FCB it has always been La Masia, more so than even winning honours at senior level. But this capture is extremely important at many levels in Spanish football because the tendency in the past 24 months has been for Real Madrid to capture young talented Spanish footballers breaking into the big time like Asensio from Real Mallorca and now it looks like Dani Ceballos from Real Betis... Add to the important facts that both those players are Barcelona fans and both were touted by FC Barcelona... Isco a year back further than that is another of those stories although in that particular case Barça didn't make a bid for the player now at Real Madrid. Cristóbal Muñoz "Cristo" was born on the 1st of February 2005 in Almería (Andalucía). He plays as an inside-left exactly the position that Inista plays... They also have in common their extremely high levels of technique and ball control with the difference being that 'Cristo' right now has a very high goalscoring record with the ability to arrive as a second man in dangerous areas in and around the 18 yard box. He has won the awards of best "Alevín" (child) player on two occasions and along with the even younger La Masia player Xavi Simons are considered the greatest prospects in Spanish child level football. In other words, a massive coup by FC Barcelona and now remains to be seen if these kids are taken more seriously than others were by the present board at the club. The picture above is one that the boy himself posted on his Instagram account the moment it was a signed deal he'd be heading off to live in La Masia for what will hopefully be a long long time. Cristo, la nueva joya de La Masia, ya viste de azulgrana

AS: Dani Ceballos decides on Real Madrid According to Madrid based sports newspaper, AS, Dani Ceballos who 5 days ago said that in two weeks time he would make his decision as to where he would be playing next season, has apparently made his decision and AS has made it public. Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have been battling it out for the young Real Betis player and it seems that he has made his decision which will be made public in the following days. He is known to be a fervent Barça fan, but as others in recent times (Isco and Asensio) of the same sympathies, the payer seems to have opted for the eternal rival. This is something that the Barcelona board should take note because if there was ever something Barça always had over Real Madrid it was the fact that any Spanish youngster looking to further his career from another club would always look to the Catalans as the key to success. This has changed in recent times the same as has changed the way the Barça board has been treating La Masia and its future. Obviously these are rumours right now, but in my experience the Spanish press don't tend to speculate and always have very important sources for their declarations. It waits to be seen what occurs the day Dani Ceballos talks and makes his decision.

Academy manager? WHY? This club is an embarrassment. Arsenal have absolutely no idea how to enter the structure of a modern football club. Just concentrate on making money for god sake! Leave football for clubs dedicated to football.

Barcelona's basketball team is one of the best in Europe mate and that takes a massive chunk of money in signings and wages from the club's annual budget. Remember that basketball is massive in the rest of Europe! the roller hockey side is probably the best in the world and the waterpolo team has been one of the best in the world for decades. Indeed it's difficult to juggle the cash at the club because it's massive! This is the thing some people don't get when the club has to look at how much they spend on the men's football team. Barcelona are always amongst the top three biggest money makers in football but unlike some other sides in Europe, they can't just go mental on one sport due to the fact it isn't a PLC. FCB are run by the fans... it's a democratic process and everything and anything is passed through a vote on major changes. A lot of Barça fans don't even like football and only go to the basketball games for example... what do you do with those club members that pay their annual fee? The club also keeps expanding which brings in more money but also brings in much more responsibility. I remember as a young teenager that I didn't understand all of those sectors and thought that they were there just to fill the slots. But when I lived in Spain I understood how important all sports are and how important it is to maintain the club's roots.

FC Barcelona heavily invest in almost 30 sporting sectors mate. Take the basketball team which tries to sign NBA players or their handball, roller hockey, futsal and various water sports where they frequently win the top honours. Presiding Barça isn't an easy job juggling the money.

Barça have got a very established women's football team for quite some time. It is true that a lot is being invested in trying to win the Women's Champions League.

The news we've all been waiting for?