The Fans Football Blog3

Asked about the coming transfer period, Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain has said in an interview with Catalan radio station Catalunya Ràdio that the club doesn't plan to be very active in the summer:

"If everything goes well, the squad of next year will be similar to the one of this year. We might be the team that spends the least money."

Begiristain also commented on some specific names:

Ribéry
There's nothing going on with Ribéry, I can be as clear as that. We have a great relationship with clubs like Bayern Munich and AC Milan and the people from Bayern can be sure that if we want a player of their team, they will be the first to know. It's an excellent player but there are others who can adapt to the style of Barça.

Eto'o
He's a great player who very easily creates chances. I think it's not fair to ask him to finish 70 or 80 per cent of those. He scored in all competitions and he's still growing. We want him to stay for many more years. He has a contract until 2010 and we've decided to postpone the talks until the end of the season because we don't want any distractions. We only have to focus on the game now.

Benzema
I don't know if he's the star of the future. We already have that player. In Europe, no one can compete with the numbers of Eto'o. You have half a dozen of great strikers but Eto'o has the best numbers.

Henrique
There's a chance he will return but Bayer Leverkusen has asked us if he can stay another year. He is doing well there. We'll see what will happen when the season ends.

Milito
We'll see him out there on the pitch this season.

Henry
He'll stay next season.

Villa and Silva
Valencia had the same financial problems last year but they renewed the contract of both players.

Valdés
People aren't acting right towards him. Watch the dvd of the final in Paris and go mad again. He's a homegrown player, a great profesional and he trains like a best. We're not looking to sign a goalkeeper. The renewal talks have been stopped for a while because we couldn't find a deal.

Bruno Alves
We don't need another central defender.

Messi
It's a spectacular player, the best in the world. And he should be valued for that. If you look at the market, there are players who are worse than him but who earn more. He hasn't asked for a better contract but we're aware that we should be monitoring the issue.