The Fans Football Blog3

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona is looking at the option of creating a sister team in the Major League Soccer (MLS), the professional league in the United States and Canada.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta and Barcelona official Joan Olivé travelled to Miami on Wednesday planning to meet with a North-American businessman who wants to apply for an MLS franchise that would carry the name of Barcelona.

Because of the financial implications this could have, Barcelona is willing to listen to the offer. Although the talks are still in an initial stage, the first contacts between the two parties would have lead to certain optimism about the final outcome and to this week's trip.

Laporta and Olivé are also expected to meet with MLS officials to discuss the possiblities and the economic consequences of such a franchise. American television network Univision claims that the new team could be named 'Barcelona USA'. Mexican club Chivas already made a similar move by creating Chivas USA back in 2004.

At this moment there are fourteen MLS teams divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences. MLS plans on expanding to 18 teams by 2011. However, only two of the four new teams (Seattle Sounders and Philadelphia) have been officially announced.