Barcelona Confirm Ten-Man Shortlist - Sport
Pro-Barcelona daily Sport.es claims that FC Barcelona's technical and coaching staff have settled on their ten main transfer targets for the summer...
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Barcelona Confirm Ten-Man Shortlist - Sport
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The sports daily claims that of the ten targets, three are already all but assured.
These are Gerard Piqué, Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita. The former, a Manchester United stopper, will return home to Catalunya for around €5m on a four-year deal.
Alves and Keita, both of Sevilla, may be somewhat harder to land, but the blaugrana are apaprently confident that they can force the Andalucían club's hand with a combined bid of €40m.
The remaining seven names each offer complications. One, Fabricio Coloccini of Deportivo, could potentially be the easiest, given that the cash-strapped Galician side may be willing to sell one of their top players, who has publicly said that he'd relish the challenge of Camp Nou.
Another, Alexander Hleb of Arsenal, is also said to be eager to leave his current club in favour of pastures new. Whether or not the Gunners are willing to part with him, though - or at least for what Barça are offering - is another matter entirely.
The Maybe Pile
Should these five signings go ahead, they would comprise two centre-backs, a right-back, a central midfielder and a winger. That would, according to Sport, leave room for a new left winger (to replace Ronaldinho) and a striker (perhaps to fill the gap that may be left by Samuel Eto'o.)
The left wing is a battle between David Silva of Valencia and Chelsea's Florent Malouda. Malouda is apparently the first choice, but much depends on whether or not the Blues sign a left-handed option themselves - Robinho perhaps - and accept a bid of €20m. Silva could cost a similar amount, but may be easier to land due to Los Che's financial situation.
Up front, Karim Benzema leads the list, but he is apparently content to remain at Lyon for another season, and would in any case be extremely expensive, given that Gones president Jean-Michel Aulas is notoriously tough to deal with when it comes to his prized assets.
Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal and Dimitar Berbatov of Tottenham Hotspur are two options from the Premier League. Poacher Adebayor is apparently open to the idea of leaving the Emirates, with €25m apparently a suitable amount for his services. Berbatov, meanwhile, would presumably jump at the chance to play in the Champions League, but an all-out bidding war could break out given the interest of other top European clubs.
For now, though, all is quiet at Camp Nou...
