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Some of Lionel Messi's current and former Barcelona    team-mates have touched down in Argentina ahead of his highly-anticipated wedding to Antonella Roccuzzo on Friday. Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Carles Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and Samuel Eto'o all featured in a snap uploaded to Instagram by Puyol's wife, Vanessa Lorenzo. Messi has invited the entire Barcelona squad to the ceremony in Rosario. The City Center Rosario has been hired as the venue, with a five star hotel inside the complex for guests to reside. Sergio Aguero's wife, Karina, will perform the song for the first dance at the ceremony. Messi has also requested that chefs cook local delicacies such as 'locro' stew and 'empanada' pasties for the feast. The dish is a typical Argentine beef roast including chitterlings, gizzards and kidneys. Messi and his childhood sweetheart will finally tie the knot on a relationship which spans back to when they were just five years old. The...

When his transfer to Barcelona was announced, it came as a surprise. Andre Gomes off a solid campaign the season before with Valencia and a Euro 2016 championship was a move out of left field. Nevertheless, the young Portuguese saw plenty of action for Barca this season in his 25 appearances and scored three goals, assisting one and completing nearly 90% of his passes per  whoscored.com . Gomes’ first season at Barca was an up and down one and it really came down to two factors: confidence and learning the system. When a player signs for Barcelona they essentially have to learn their footballing alphabet all over again. Thierry Henry was once quoted as saying that at Barcelona you have to learn football all over again. For Gomes, a central midfielder, this was a truth he had to learn the hard way. As the season went on Gomes featured mostly as an interior midfielder and at times a pivot in Luis Enrique’s 4-3-3. At times his lack of pace proved to be an issue such as in the f...

Barcelona will have to splash the cash if they want to be the best team in the world again. But the Board seems to be failing in bringing in new stars. The 2016-17 season should have been a wake up call for Barcelona. A reminder that the team cannot depend on the brilliance of one man season after season. The club brought in six new players in the previous summer transfer window. Yet only one of them, Samuel Umtiti, can be classified as a success. The biggest mistake of the club was trying to replace legends with unproven talent. In recent years the club has lost players like Xavi, Puyol and Alves. But the club has failed to find proper replacements for these club legends. Instead of trying to buy one terrific player, the Board has brought in two or three mediocre players to fill in the holes. This summer though felt different. The club was linked with three world-class players in Verratti, Bellerin and Dembele. It seemed that the Board had learned from its mistakes and turn...

Marco Verratti states that he is going nowhere, deals massive blow to Barcelona’s hopes of landing a world-class midfielder. Barcelona were very close to signing their main target this summer. But somehow, negotiations have faltered. The player himself has said that his future lies with Paris Saint-Germain, if they do not change their position. Earlier, it was Verratti and his agent Donato di Campli asking the PSG management to let go of the Italian. They were reluctant as they saw him as an integral part of the club’s future. But Di Campli continued to pressure the management. So much so that it was obvious that PSG would relent. But that has not happened. Also, Verratti has come out with a statement that denies any such contact. This statement means that the fact that Verratti will leave the Parc de Princes is not definitive. It does not completely rule out the deal, but rather downplays it. It is a massive change from Verratti’s earlier statements that he was looking f...

Barcelona have got Brazilian playmaker Lucas Lima on board for no fee. Lucas Lima has been one of the brightest talents in Brazil for a long time. He realized some of his potential in the Brazilian Serie A, but he needed a bump upwards. That’s exactly what he has got now. Barcelona have agreed terms with Lucas Lima for a pre-contract deal. The midfielder’s contract expires in January and Robert Fernandez has moved quickly to secure his signature. Lima is extremely talented and he will add a lot of value to the squad. ESPN Brasil  has released the contract details. Lima will earn approximately €4 million per season. The club will pay him onuses worth €5 million over the duration of the contract. Lima will sign a 5-year contract with the club. He will be joining in January, 2018. His teammate at Santos, forward Bruno Henrique                                       ...

New Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde is happy that the board thought of him when considering the replacement for Luis Enrique. Ernesto Valverde is now learning the ropes as the new manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. He replaces Luis Enrique, who chose to take a hiatus from coaching after a three year run with the Blaugrana. Despite Lucho leaving, he’ll leave on a positive note with a trophy in his last match in charge, the Copa Del Rey. Now, Valverde looks to repeat the success that Lucho had in his first two seasons. The new manager expressed his happiness as he was welcomed to the Catalan club by Barca TV. It is indeed a privilege to coach some of the best talent in the world. However, there is more to be done to make the team better. After a down season in 2017, the Blaugrana look to take back the La Liga title from Real Madrid. They also look to win the Champions League after two years of early exits in the knockout stage. Valverde also talked ab...

Here, we begin to analyze the hire of new Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde and what he can do to change the club for good. Earlier this week, Ernesto Valverde was officially announced as the new manager of FC Barcelona. The decision to appoint Valverde has polarised the opinion of the Catalan supporters. While some think that the decision to hire a former player in Valverde is a move in the right direction, another segment of the fan base is of the belief that the move shows a clear lack of ambition by the board members. Valverde played for Barcelona under Johan Cruyff from 1988 to 1990 before becoming a cult figure at Bilbao. As a manager Valverde has won six titles including a 5-1 aggregate win against Barcelona to lift the Spanish Super Cup with Athletic Bilbao. But now as the newly appointed Barcelona manager, Valverde faces the biggest challenge of his career. Valverde has never managed a team the magnitude of FC Barcelona. From now on every time his team steps onto a foo...