Barcelona News and Analysis

Barcelona submit transfer bid for top Bayern Munich defensive target

28Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Bundesliga, Features, LaLiga

Barcelona submit transfer bid for top Bayern Munich defensive target

Barcelona are open to selling top center back Andreas Christensen, even though he has been one of the club's best players at any position since joining as a brilliant free agent signing in summer 2022. Christensen proved instrumental in helping Barcelona win LaLiga in the 2022/23 season, and he was one of the few true bright spots on an otherwise disappointing Blaugrana in 2023/24. An example of Barcelona getting things right with a free agent, Christensen hopefully won't be leaving the club, but, if he does in order to raise funds, Barca could replace him with another notable center back. According to a report from Diario Sport, Barcelona have made a 20 million euro transfer offer to Bayer Leverkusen in order to acquire starting center back Jonathan Tah. Of course, Tah has bee...

Former Real Madrid and Barcelona attackers could unite in LaLiga

27Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

Former Real Madrid and Barcelona attackers could unite in LaLiga

Former Real Madrid, Porto, Monaco, and Everton star James Rodriguez put himself back on the map in European football with a summer for the ages at Copa America, showing, once again, why he is one of the best players in the world on the international stage. The Colombian playmaker was the best player of the tournament, leading his country to the final against Argentina, where they pitched Lionel Messi and Co. to their limit. Now, James will be returning to LaLiga, embarking on what will likely be his final chapter in European football, returning from a nondescript time in South America to become the latest big name to join Rayo Vallecano, following in the footsteps of former club and national teammate Radamel Falcao. But James may not be the only big-name attacker from one of Spani...

Barcelona’s highest-rated players in FC25 are an absolute joke

25Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

Barcelona’s highest-rated players in FC25 are an absolute joke

EA Sports's offering of the football video game FC25 will become available next month on Sept. 27, and the player ratings are being leaked, with Barcelona fans, like any other fanbase, wondering just what in the heck the powers that be over at EA are thinking. It often seems like they aren't watching the games when they come up with the ratings, frequently biasing their evaluations towards aging players who are declining, failing to account for their slip in standard while, on the other hand, not rating up-and-coming superstars properly. Barcelona right winger Lamine Yamal was the best player at the European Championships and was arguably Barca's best player in the 2023/24 LaLiga season at the age of 16, yet he is only rated 81 despite already being a world-class winger. Meanwhile...

FC25 did Barcelona star dirty with low rating

25Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

FC25 did Barcelona star dirty with low rating

Barcelona are used to having the highest-rated players in world football, as evidenced by the fact that no club has had more Ballon d'Or winners in history than the Blaugrana. From Lionel Messi and Neymar to Andres Iniesta and Xavi, Barcelona have long had the most coveted players in the world and, likewise, the players who were the mostly highly-rated in FIFA video game franchises. But this year, it feels like Barca's best and brightest are being undervalued by FC25, and their very best player ended up being arguably the most underrated of those players by the upcoming game release. Lamine Yamal had a sensational first LaLiga season for the Blaugrana and was even better at the European Championships, shining for eventual winners Spain with a historically great showing throughout ...

Brighton Women acquire Barcelona attacking phenom

25Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features, LaLiga, Premier League

Brighton Women acquire Barcelona attacking phenom

Brighton Women finished ninth in the FA WSL table last season, so the Seagulls are intent on climbing higher up the table and forming a project capable of finishing in the top half of the league. They are off to a strong start this summer, as they have signed two big names from Chelsea in England legend Fran Kirby and experienced midfielder Jelena Cankovic. Both Cankovic and Kirby should bring plenty of technical quality, star power, experience, and attacking flair to a Brighton side that could use a few more difference-makers in a playmaking capacity. And now, Brighton have adde a younger, less established player with plenty of upside to boost the Seagulls' attack for the 2024/25 FA WSL season in the form of a winger capable of starting on the left or the right. Per Soccerdonn...

LaLiga Predictions: Barcelona vs. Athletic Club; Real Madrid vs. Valladolid; Atletico Madrid vs. Girona

22Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

LaLiga Predictions: Barcelona vs. Athletic Club; Real Madrid vs. Valladolid; Atletico Madrid vs. Girona

Will Girona or Atletico Madrid gain a key advantage in their bid to spoil Real Madrid's title defense? Can Real Madrid themselves get back on track against Real Valladolid after a poor showing against another underdog LaLiga side last week in Mallorca? And will Barcelona register another big win, taking down the man who snubbed them this summer, Nico Williams and his Athletic Club teammates? Here are predictions for this weekend's LaLiga fixtures. Atletico Madrid vs. Girona Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona will have the biggest game of the weekend, as that contest will be fought on Sunday night to close the weekend between possible title contenders Atletico Madrid and Girona. Atletico Madrid impressed in the 2022/23 season and were champions two years prior to that, while Girona w...

Real Madrid rejected the chance to sign one of Barcelona’s best players

21Aug

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

Real Madrid rejected the chance to sign one of Barcelona’s best players

Real Madrid have a gaping hole in their midfield after the retirement of Toni Kroos, because for as much talent as they have in the middle of the park, the recent disappointing 1-1 draw with Mallorca highlighted all that is lost from Kroos' departure. The defending champions of Spain and Europe, Real Madrid did not progress the ball or create chances to even half the degree expected against bottom-half side Mallorca without Kroos. Going forward, Real Madrid will have to count on more creation from the superstar midfield quartet of Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Eduardo Camavinga. Meanwhile, Real Madrid should call upon Turkish phenom Arda Guler to get more minutes in his second season after a strong European Championship campaign, and veteran Luka Modric ...

Breaking down the severity of the Nergreira scandal for Barcelona

21Aug

By Javier MartinezNo Comments

Features, LaLiga

Breaking down the severity of the Nergreira scandal for Barcelona

Significant developments have come to light in the ongoing investigation into FC Barcelona's payments to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). In case you have forgotten, here is a quick recap of the FC Barcelona-Negreira scandal: Barcelona made payments totaling €7 million to José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018 while he was the vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). Barcelona stopped paying Negreira immediately after he left his position within the CTA. Joan Laporta quadrupled the payments to Negreira in 2009 during his first term as Barcelona president. In a testimony to tax administrators, Negreira stated that Barcelona hired him to ensure that refereeing was "neutral" and t...

Transfers: Barca’s worst wage offenders; Why West Ham want Carlos Soler; Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea

21Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League

Transfers: Barca’s worst wage offenders; Why West Ham want Carlos Soler; Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea

Why are Chelsea going back for Joao Felix despite his 2023 flop? How might Carlos Soler help West Ham return to European football? And which three players are hurting Barcelona the most in the wage department? Here are the latest takes around the world football transfer rumor mill. Making sense of Joao Felix to Chelsea Leave it to Chelsea to make the most shocking transfer of the summer window, because for a fee of 45 million pounds, the Blues have agreed to bring Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge...on a permanent basis. It's not like Felix set the Bridge on fire when he arrived in the second half of the 2022/23 season, nor is it as if he was such a rousing success at the Camp Nou either. Felix is who he is at this stage. A very talented, very limited playmaker who plays more f...

Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?

20Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A

Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?

Did Barcelona make a mistake by signing Ilkay Gundogan? Will Brighton's transfer gamble be worth the reward? And are Juventus getting one over on AC Milan this summer? Here is the latest analysis behind some of world football's hottest transfer news stories. Juventus stealing Pierre Kalulu from AC Milan Juventus had a lot of problems last season, but the defense clearly wasn't one of them. So much so that Gleison Bremer and Danilo were two of the best center backs in Serie A, while Federico Gatti joined Bremer with significant interest from around the Premier League. Still, Juve wanted to land a young center back to potentially start over Gatti for new manager Thiago Motta and then take the reigns as a star in defense from Danilo, who is heading closer to the end at age 33. Alth...