Barcelona legend urges his former club to sell Ousmane Dembele

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Barcelona legend Rivaldo believes his former club should sanction the sale of Ousmane Dembele, who has struggled with regular injury concerns. The France international joined the Blaugrana from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017 and he has since been restricted to only 74 appearances across all competitions.


That has been due to the various hamstring injuries which have kept him out of action and Rivaldo feels the Catalan giants should either sell or offer him as a makeweight for one of their summer targets, he told: “Ousmane Dembele signed for Barcelona almost three years ago and he has already had enough time to establish himself in the club and prove his value. It’s possible that he will never show his quality at the club.”
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Richarlison responds to Barcelona transfer speculation

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Everton star Richarlison has indicated that there has been no concrete interest from Barcelona despite the speculation in the media. The Brazil international has been a regular in the Toffees attack since his move from Watford in 2018 and he has already contributed 26 goals in all competitions for the club.


Amidst this, the Blaugrana have been credited with an interest in signing him but Richarlison has stressed that he does not prefer to ponder over the speculation. He added that he is ‘very happy’ at Goodison Park but would one day prefer to join a great club such as Barcelona, he told: “I heard from the press, I don’t know if there was anything concrete.
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Beppe Marotta dismisses Lautaro Martinez to Barcelona rumours

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Inter Milan chief Beppe Marotta has dismissed the ongoing speculation linking Lautaro Martinez with a possible move to Barcelona. The Argentine has made a vast improvement from his debut season at the Nerazzurri and he has already amassed 16 goals from 28 appearances across all competitions this term.

 

His form has caught the attention of some of Europe’s elite and of late, he has been linked with a summer move to Barcelona, who are eyeing a competitor for Luis Suarez, who has recently suffered multiple knee injuries. In response to the rumours, Marotta has clarified that the Argentina international is only interested in playing for the Nerazzurri and won’t part ways with the club unless he puts a transfer request on the table, he told Sky Italia: “Rumours regarding Lautaro? He is very young and improving. He is only interested in wearing the glorious shirt of Inter. This club has nothing to envy others. Players can leave only if they ask to leave.”

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Pedro opens the door for possible Barcelona return

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Chelsea attacker Pedro has said that he would welcome the prospect of returning to Barcelona in the future. The 31-year-old has been with the Blues for the past four-and-a-half-seasons but his role has diminished during the current campaign where Frank Lampard has preferred the likes of Willian, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi ahead of him in the pecking order.


Moreover, he has been afforded with just one start over the past two months and it is quite clear that he has fallen out-of-favour at the west London side. Pedro’s current deal is due to expire at the end of the season when asked about a probable comeback to the Camp Nou, the Spaniard was more than open to the possibility.
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Ernesto Valverde Runs out of Praises for Lionel Messi

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Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde claimed that he has run out of words when it comes to describing Lionel Messi’s brilliance. The Argentine superstar was influential for Barcelona in the recent 5-1 victory over Real Valladolid. Messi was able to score twice in the game – including a free kick that provided has 50th goal from such a scenario. There were also assists for Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal. This victory helped Barcelona to return to the top of the standings. After a difficult start of the campaign, the Catalan outfit have picked up seven consecutive wins.


Messi’s form was questioned in the first few weeks of the season, as he faced issues about injuries. There were also uncertainties surrounding the arrival of Neymar. All these contributed to a difficult start for Barcelona we have been able to open a solitary point advantage over archrivals Real Madrid. The recent postponement of the El Clasico means that Barcelona will have to wait several weeks before they go up against Madrid. Until then, they will be happy to sit at the top standings with such big wins. The big victory also allowed Valverde to give a debut to a 16-year-old. Ansu Fati, who is highly regarded in European football, was given an opportunity to enjoy his second league start.
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Inter Milan Deserved Win against Barcelona Claims Martinez

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Lautaro Martinez claims that Inter Milan deserved to come out on top against Barcelona in the recent Champions League encounter between the two teams. Martinez came up with an early goal for the visitors and this happens to be the first goalscorer by Inter Milan at the Camp Nou in almost 4 decades. This increased hopes of gaining a remarkable victory but they were quashed when Luis Suarez came up with a brace – including a late winner – in order to send Antonio Conte’s men to the first defeat of the season.

 

 

Antonio Conte’s arrival at Inter Milan coupled with the club splashing out on players like Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez has been able to reinvigorate the Italian outfit, who have been struggling for the last few years. Conte has been able to witness a remarkable change from Inter in the domestic leagues as they have been able to top the table ahead of Juventus. However, the story in the Champions League is very different since the defeat against Barcelona has left the club at the bottom of the group F with only one point. Martinez says that the performance from Inter Milan deserved more than just a loss. The next game for the Italians will be against Borussia Dortmund at the San Siro.

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Barcelona boss says the club have moved on from Neymar speculation

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Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde has said that he does not want to comment on the Neymar transfer saga any further and it is time to turn the page. The Brazil international was heavily tipped to rejoin the Blaugrana from Paris Saint-Germain this summer but a deal did not materialise with Les Parisiens demanding as much as £270m for the attacker. Neymar has since made his comeback with Les Parisiens and Valverde believes the media should move on from the speculation, he told in a press conference: “We’ve spoken about Neymar before, during and after the market and it’s time to turn the page.”

Neymar recently made his comeback for Les Parisiens during the league game against Strasbourg and he received a frosty reception from the home fans, who booed him throughout the encounter. Nonetheless, he was able to silence some of them with a stunning overhead kick to score an injury-time winner and he has since said that he is committed to the cause of the club.

Barcelona, on the other hand, have experienced a mixed beginning to the current campaign and they have accumulated just seven points from the opening four matches. That tally sees them three points behind league leaders Sevilla, who have been splendid at the back with just one goal conceded to date.

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Frank Lampard says Lionel Messi is the most incredible player he has ever faced

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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that Lionel Messi is the most incredible player he had faced during his playing career. The 41-year-old suffered an embarrassing 4-0 league defeat to Manchester United during his managerial debut with the Blues last weekend but he is hoping to redeem himself in the forthcoming European Super Cup clash with Liverpool.

Speaking ahead of that game, Lampard was asked about the best player he had faced during his playing career and he happened to mention three players including Messi, who is reckoned as the best of the rest, he said: “Can I give you two answers? It’ll actually be three. The first one is Messi because he was the most incredible player – it was like you were playing against someone who’s not on the same level as all of us. The two players I always remember having the hardest time against were Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta at Barcelona. They just played football around you, and you didn’t get near them. It was football that wasn’t normal to me; it was different from anything else I came up against.”

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Patrice Evra says he has no issues with Barcelona star Luis Suarez

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Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra has said that he has no concerns with Luis Suarez despite the latter’s racist remarks when they played against each other in the Premier League. The Uruguay international spent three seasons with Liverpool between 2011 and 2014 where he became a fan favourite before making the switch to Barcelona.

Speaking to The Mail, Evra insisted that he has no hatred towards the former Liverpool marksman for the incident which happened eight years ago. He added that the Uruguayan was one of the best Premier League players at that time and he has personally acknowledged the same when picking his best XI on multiple occasions.

He said: “I don’t hate him. I never hated him. I wanted to punch him at the time but for me to hate someone is impossible. I don’t have hate in my heart. I can react but hate is a strong word for me. When I was asked to pick a team of my best players, I named Suarez as one of my XI. He was the best striker at that time. Why should I not recognise his talent even if he isn’t a good person? I don’t even know if he is a good person. We had one episode. At that time, I wouldn’t have gone on holiday with him but I can’t hate him.”

Suarez was banned for eight matches following the incident but he came back with a determined mindset and nearly guided the Reds to the Premier League title during the 2013/14 season. Following that campaign, he was banned for four months after the biting incident on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup but he has since put a control to his emotions to become a fantastic servant for Barcelona.

Suarez has amassed 177 goals from just 247 appearances for the Catalan giants. He has won four La Liga crowns, four Copa del Rey and the prestigious Champions League over the past five seasons. He has two more years remaining on his current contract with the club.

Frank Lampard says Lionel Messi is the most incredible player he has ever faced

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Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said that Lionel Messi is the most incredible player he had faced during his playing career. The 41-year-old suffered an embarrassing 4-0 league defeat to Manchester United during his managerial debut with the Blues last weekend but he is hoping to redeem himself in the forthcoming European Super Cup clash with Liverpool.

Speaking ahead of that game, Lampard was asked about the best player he had faced during his playing career and he happened to mention three players including Messi, who is reckoned as the best of the rest, he said: “Can I give you two answers? It’ll actually be three. The first one is Messi because he was the most incredible player – it was like you were playing against someone who’s not on the same level as all of us. The two players I always remember having the hardest time against were Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta at Barcelona. They just played football around you, and you didn’t get near them. It was football that wasn’t normal to me; it was different from anything else I came up against.”

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