Offseason Moves

Wenger talks pave way for Henry’s move to Barcelona

Imagine

Henry, Eto,

Dinho, Xavi, Messi

Deco

Zambrotta Puyol Marquez

An all out attack even from the back...

your lineup futbol4 would be fun to watch but would drive any coach crazy as it doesn't have much defense on it! Deco as the defensive midfielder?

I never know what to believe about these summer stories of players switching clubs. Most of it is just summer rumour mongering. Only occasionally do they prove correct. Barcelona first need to think about this weekend's final league match versus Nastic.

This always is a crazy time of the year when the press are full of stories of this player going here, that player going there... Like enganche said, you just never know what to believe.

Now that the offseason has officially arrived (finally!) in Spain let's get a new thread to discuss any player and coaching movement.


I'll start with what I know best Atletico Madrid. First of all the club renewed Javier Aguirre's contract which is a great move in my view as he gets the chance to hopefully build upon this season's improvement and with a healthier team the club should perform even better. Also signed was midfielder Raul Garcia from Osasuna who is an excellent young two way midfielder who I think can soon fight his way onto the national team. Garcia's arrival means the departure likely of Costinha who ddin't play well this year anyway and I am not certain what it means for the future of Maniche but I'd like to see Maniche and Garcia playing together in the center of midfield. But then what to do about Peter Luccin? Some interesting questions for the offseason but so far I am happy with the start of the summer for Atletico.

Osasuna likely will be losing Roberto Soldado who could be headed back to Real Madrid but no worries as they've already sigend another ex Real Madrid forward Javier Portillo, who was one of Nastic's few bright spots in an otherwise dim season.

Just to let everyone know I merged Manzanares thread on offseason moves with a similar one already started by futbol4.

Good moves by Atletico in re-signing Aguirre as coach and picking up Raul Garcia in midfield. I'm sure soem English clubs will come calling for Fernando Torres but Atletico will try and hold on to him unless they receive the infamous offer you can't refuse!

Barceona's president Laporta says he intends to keep Ronaldinho and Eto'o on the team and maintain Rijkaard as coach but that there will be changes. My guess would be in defense with Thuram and possibly even Marquez on the market and in defensive midfield. I also wouldn't be shocked to see Giuly leave Barca either.

As always the summer will bring lot's of crazy stories about players departing and arriving. Most may not be true but they'll still be fun to discuss!

The stories are already starting, I have no idea which have some truth in them and which are just fabricated to sell newspapers. Personally I'd rather talk about moves which we know for certain are completed. I'll start with two, one involving a coach, Deportivo's Joaquin Caparros who has quit the club. With Mane also walking away from Athletic Bilbao the stories are Caparros will bring his physical style of football to Athletic. We'll see. Ismael Urzaiz the veteran center forward for Athletic is also leaving the club, for a destination unknown, he's had a very good career in Bilbao but his best years are behind him and he lost his starting job there. Still I can see him finding a job with a 2nd division club where he can close out his career. I don't see him anyore as a 1st division starter.

futbol4 linked story is turning out true! Barcelona are signing Thierry Henry for 24 million euros! Wow! That's my reaction but now what do they do with Henry, Eto'o and Ronaldinho all of whom like to drift out left? Nice problem to have but...

Poor Puyol torn his external ligament in his knee yesterday in an end of season friendly in South Africa and will likely miss 3 months so barca are also out looking for another central defender. They also reportedly are close to signing Yaya Toure from Monaco as a defensive midfielder.

Give Athletic Bilbao credit as they are signing Osasuna's best player left winger David Lopez. Good move for the Lions of Bilbao.

Shit Barcelona will have some attack next season but how are they going to keep all of them happy? I wonder if with this acquisition if either Ronaldinho or Eto'o are now on the market this summer? Yes the offseason has already begun with a bomb in Spain.

I can't believe osasuna is selling David Lopez. That is a great pickup for Athletic Bilbao. Look at the thread for la Liga best XI, I selected lopez as my revelation of the season. He can play.

That is an impressive group of forwards but I too wonder how they'll be able to play them all at once? You'd think that is one star too many in attack. But the idea of Henry and Etoo running at an opposing defense should scare any opponent.

Those are my views of Henry's signing too Sergio. It looks great any time you sign a player of his ability but how do you fit him into your team without disrupting already established players? Do you guys think Ronaldinho could drop deeper and play behind a 3 man attack of Henry, Eto'o and Messi? But we all know Ronaldinho's defensive contributions aren't many and thus I don't think he'd be willing to do the "dirty work" that Deco currently does from that position.

Is Lopez a Basque?

Is Lopez a Basque?

No but Lopez is from Logrono which is just south of Basque Country and is part of La Rioja, an area wine lovers will surely know. When Athletic Bilbao changed their Basque only policy awhile ago to allow those from France's Basque regions (like Bixente Lizarazu) to play for the team they also allowed players from La Rioja and Navarre to also play for Athletic Bilbao thus Lopez still fits within the now expanded club policy of who can play for them.

Barcelona have completed Thierry Henry's medical and he'll wear #14 next year. Yaya Toure is next in line in Barcelona's arrival lounge and he should also be a good addition to the club and will boost their midfield.

Martin is right players from La Rioja and Navarre can now play for Athletic as can French basques. I heard it is because those regions were one time considered part of Euskadi, the Basque Country. But interestingly Athletic also does allow players who grew up in the Basque region on their team even if they don't have any basque ancestry so currently there are several African immigrants who grew up in Bilbao who are on Athletic's junior team and who may soon make their way up to the first team. The anachronism that is Athletic Bilbao!

A couple of other recent moves which occurred in the past few days. Firts of all Miguel Angel Lotina, after being unable to save Real Sociedad has left and will take over as Deportivo's new coach. Savio who was Real Sociedad's best player this year but also couldn't save the club from the drop has left for Levante. Valdo moved from Osasuna to Espanyol who get yet another skilled player on their team. Valdo can spell either Rufete on the right wing or de la Pena as the attacking midfielder. I think that is a good pickup for Espanyol.

There's been plenty of talk here that Gabriel Heinze is surplus to requirements at Manchester United, and that a move to Spain may be on the cards. It would be a shame as I do like Heinze, but he's not as good as Evra and he has lost his place. The other concern for any potential buyer is that I don't think he's at all the same player since his terrible injury. He was actually a liability at times for United in the spring. Perhaps with a pre-season under his belt he could recover his form. I actually wouldn't mind keeping him at Old Trafford as cover, but I could understand if he isn't satisfied with that.

I was interested to read about Athletic Bilbao's relaxed criteria for players. I actually applaud the move. It should make Bilbao more competitive and thus a better representative of their region, if you want to put it like that. It reminds me of how Rangers used to refuse to ever play Catholic players, until Mo Johnston in the 1980s. Ultimately, these things are self-defeating. If there were two equally talented young Glasgow lads, one Catholic and one Protestant, Celtic would always take the Protestant because they knew Rangers wouldn't touch the Catholic. Now that ETA have announced a return to violence, I think it would be good to see Athletic take a lead in being less insular.

Well said Simon about Athletic Bilbao. Athletic fans will tell you it is the essence of the club, others will say it is insularism. I respect a club's tradition but you are just making yourself less competitive by limiting who can play for it. Hopefully signing players like Lopez will help broaden the outlook of the club and it's fans. Unquestionably he'll help them next season.

Luciano Galletti is leaving Atletico for Olimpiacos in Greece. Rodolfo Arruabarrena also is going to Greece leaving Villarreal for AEK. Former Betis and Barcelona coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer is at AEK and may look to bring over other Spanish based players. Galletti was a solid player for Atletico and with the injuries the team experienced he was more needed than ever this past season but with Petrov and Rodriguez back to health his minutes would have been limited in the future.

Simon, I've read those stories about Heinze too. Hopefully he doesn't make the trip to Real Madrid but he started off in Europe playing I believe for Zaragoza before he went to PSG and started getting more well known.