Bursting out of the closet and the hospital bed, Barca's Eidur Gudjohnsen quickly asserts his position.


After weeks of speculation about his future, Barca's striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has declared where he stands. The Icelandic star is not yet ready to move anywhere further than where he already is, which is Camp Nou. Eidur, who was injured, and missed a potential transfer to England, is not ready to leave Barca yet. Guddy says:

I’m here and I’m staying here. That’s absolutely clear. I’m not thinking about any other team. I only want to think about my future with Barça. I wouldn’t want to leave feeling the way I do now because I’ve always felt that I have never reached my full potential. I’m just concentrating on the present, working and training hard to get into good shape again. Between me and the other strikers, the only difference is that I haven’t had the opportunity of training at the same level as the rest but I’ve spoken to the fitness trainer about training harder than the rest and reaching the same degree of fitness. I don’t have any discomfort now and I’m another option for the boss. I have to think about my body and about my fitness and demonstrate what I can do.

Feeling more relaxed after his declaration, Gudjohnsen took out time to speak on the impasse between clubs and countries of various international players:

Both club and country are important. The coaches, clubs and international managers have to talk more about each player’s particular situation. That would certainly help to avoid some of the problems that have been coming up.

With both strikers Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi injured, Eidur Gudjohnsen might yet have a clear chance to play for Barca in this weekend's La Liga game against Osasuna.

Chelsea's player poacher, Zahavi prepares final strategy to poach Giovani away from Camp Nou.


Popular agent, Pini Zahavi has officially surfaced in the transfer rumours involving Barca starlet, Giovani dos Santos. Zahavi, often dubbed as a super agent, is keen to play a major part in determining Giovani's future, and the agent super agent is more favourably disposed toward ferrying the Mexican to England than anything else. Pini says :

I will hold talks with Giovani soon. I won't be speaking with him until November. He has a contract with Barca until 2008, but it was signed when he was a junior. Giovani is obviously a diamond in football. So far, there has been no contact with English clubs and I am looking at the possibility of something coming up.

Chelsea also made a strong effort to sign another Barcelona starlet, Thiago Alcantra, who told the Stamford Bridge boys that he was happy at FC Barcelona and was going no where, choosing to sign a professional contract with Barca to further prove where his loyalty lies.

Manchester United and other premiership sides are interested in Dos santos who is tipped as one of the brightest prospects in the future, along with another Barca starlet, goal machine Bojan Krkic.

More honours in sight for young Bojan as Rijkaard draws out season's master plan.


A great performance at the just ended FIFA U-17 world cup in Korea has put teen goal-machine, Bojan Krkic in further global limelight after the young player was awarded the Bronze ball by FIFA as the third best player in the championship and also finished as the third top scorer with five goals in six matches. Bojan has been watched by all observers including FC Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard, who made comments on the youthful one, indicating from his words that Krkic will be having more playing time from now on at the Barca A team:

I have seen Bojan during pre-season and we have seen very early on what a talent he has. He has not had much of a break and that is maybe why in some games has tired, but for the way he reads the game and his decision making ability shows what a mature player he is for his age.

Bojan Krkic, who will be joining the Barcelona senior team after returning from Korea, is being sought after by many clubs especially after his sterling performance at the world cup. Alond with another teenage hot-shot, Giovani dos Santos, who also won the Bronze ball at this year's U-21 world cup with Mexico, the stakes are high if Barcelona want to keep both players. However, coach Rijkaard is ready to shoulder both players, saying:

Neither Bojan nor Giovani are leaving. They belong to us and are both important, talented players for Barca.

Verbally rampaging Thiago Motta decides to forget but not necessarily forgive.


Former FC Barcelona midfielder, Thiago Motta has chosen to back-pedal on his public criticism of his former club's officials, a naughty indulgence which the 25 year-old ex-Barca B and Barca A star had been carrying out over the past few days. This follows recent comments from FC Barcelona's president, Joan Laporta in which Laporta expressed surprise at Motta's reaction after leaving Barca. When prodded again by the press to speak further on his relationship with his former club, Barcelona, Thiago Motta this time around, preferred not to comment further on that issue saying:

Time will reveal what really happened. I want to move on now and forget about the past. I'm looking ahead to the future.

Motta rather chose to focus on his debut for Atletico Madrid which was in an unofficial match against Zamora that ended 0-0:

The debut was good, but It's a shame we did not clinch an important win. I expect to improve with each day that passes then I can help the team by playing more often. I was a little tired at the end, but I thought it went well. I hope to be ready for when the coach calls upon me.

For failing to honour his words and promises, Ezquerro will make Athletic's president walk the plank, if only he had his way.


The transfer windows have shut right in the face of FC Barcelona's player, Santi Ezquerro. The player is not happy with the final turn of events in the last few days leading to the end of the transfer season, as, after high hopes were in the media of his imminent move away from Barca, nothing eventually happened. Hopes were so high that at a point, Ezquerro himself demanded that Barca officials should speed up his transfer talks, after failing to get a free transfer. But all that has ended with a bitter Ezquerro absolving Barca of any blame in his failed transfer, crashing down heavily on the new president of Athletic:

Athletic's president disappointed me. There was an offer to return to Athletic on the table right up until the final transfer day and when I decided to accept on Friday afternoon, the president offered me different conditions to the ones we had agreed. I turned down some good offers, including one from Osasuna, to sign for Athletic, but I have been tricked. I had too much faith in his words, but wouldn't blame myself for that. I always felt that people of such high standing would keep to their words. I guess I have been proved wrong.

Athletic's new president, as understood, promised that he would sign Ezquerro if he won the election, but that never happened. The new president turned his back on the Barca player. Ezquerro, while reacting to the development, was disappointed and downcast as well as showing great displeasure in the ungentlemanly behaviour.


Ezquerro also revealed that the reportedly slippery Athletic president also leaked news of his signing to the press in a bid to win more votes, and the Barca player again, burst the bubble on Macua offering him money to state in the press that he would sign him as part of his election strategy. Ezquerro turned down the money.

If I had accepted the money, I would be playing for the president and not for Bilbao. I always have strong commitments to the clubs which I play for, so such inducements will not have helped me if I had accepted it and eventually signed for the club.

On what will be of his futre, Santi replied:

I will remain in Barca and continue to play here. In December, when the market opens again, I will look for a good solution then. I will try to do my best over the next few months, but I know that it is very difficult because of the strong competition here.