Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian striker Neymar has agreed in principle to join Barcelona, July 1. The 21-year-old striker is understood to have signed a deal last week to join the Spanish giants following the Confederations Cup in Brazil, reports Xinhua. Neymar's current club Santos could ratify the deal on Wednesday.
As anticipation surrounding the move intensified, Barcelona star Lionel Messi said Neymar would be a "wonderful signing" for the Catalan club. "I don't know if in the end he will sign with Barca, only he knows the answer to that," Messi told TV channel Qatar Alkass.
"He is a player who has very unique individual qualities. It is clear that for Barcelona he would be a wonderful acquisition." Neymar's move to the Camp Nou would end two years of speculation regarding the future of the Brazil international. A long line of European clubs have been linked to the starlet, including Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus.
Brazil legends Ronaldo and Rivaldo are among a growing chorus of current and former stars to insist Neymar must make a move now if he is to fulfil his potential. Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian winger Lucas Moura is the latest to espouse the benefits of European football....
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02:39 PM, May 22, 2013
Barcelona: Newly crowned Spanish champion Barcelona celebrated winning the league title in front of their home fans by easing to a 2-1 victory over Valladolid on Sunday. While rain and dropping temperatures threatened to dampen the party in the stands, Barcelona had little trouble keeping alive its bid to equal Real Madrid's 2012 record haul of 100 points even without the injured Lionel Messi. The weather cleared up in time...
08:26 AM, May 20, 2013
Madrid: Barcelona have confirmed that striker Leo Messi will miss the rest of the season as a result of the muscle injury which forced him out of his side's 2-1 win away over Atletico Madrid. The fact that Messi's injury is a relapse of the hamstring problem, which he originally suffered in the quarter-final of the Champions League April 2 and which has troubled him ever since, is a key...
01:16 PM, May 14, 2013
Madrid: Not even an injury to Lionel Messi in the 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday could dampen Barcelona's celebrations at winning their 22nd Spanish league title. Messi started his first match in six rounds because of a recurring right hamstring injury, but he left the field in the 68th minute with Barcelona trailing 1-0 to Radamel Falcao's 52-minute goal and having made all three substitutions. However, Alexis Sanchez...
08:04 AM, May 13, 2013
London: Lionel Messi's life story is set to hit the movie screens in time for the 2014 World Cup. Epic Pictures Group says it is financing and developing a Rocky-style film after buying the rights to dramatize a biography about the Barcelona soccer star. The Beverly Hills-based company says the biopic will chart Messi's rise from a modest background in Argentina and how he "overcame his physical shortcomings to become...
06:48 PM, May 10, 2013
Barcelona: Lionel Messi netted two goals within 15 minutes of coming on as a substitute to give Barcelona a 4-2 comeback win over Real Betis on Sunday and push his team to the brink of the Spanish league title. After his teammates had rallied back twice to level at 2-2, Messi went on in the 56th and four minutes later curled in a free kick to extend his record scoring...
08:03 AM, May 06, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi trained normally on Saturday and midfielder Sergio Busquets was also back working with his team mates as the La Liga leaders prepare for Sunday's potentially title-clinching game at home to Real Betis. World Player of the Year Messi damaged a hamstring just over a month ago and although he had been given the all-clear by medical staff he was unable to play in Wednesday's Champions...
05:52 PM, May 04, 2013
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi missed training on Friday as he battles to regain fitness for the La Liga leaders' final few matches of the campaign. "The Argentine forward ... did physiotherapy work" apart from the rest of his team mates, Barca said in a statement on their website. Messi damaged a hamstring just over a month ago and although he had been given the all-clear by medical staff he was...
08:06 AM, May 04, 2013
Barcelona: Dethroned as Europe's dominant team, Barcelona can begin rebuilding their reputation by clinching the Spanish league title this weekend. Barcelona can secure their 22nd domestic title and their fourth in five years if they beat Real Betis at Camp Nou on Sunday and second-place Real Madrid drops points at home against Valladolid the day before. Barcelona and Madrid were both eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals this week. Yet...
06:47 PM, May 03, 2013
Barcelona: With both Barcelona and Real Madrid still smarting from their respective Champions League collapses, the talk is already turning to what changes can be made - maybe even need to be made - for next season. Both Spanish teams lost to German opposition in the semi-finals. Bayern Munich routed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate, and Borussia Dortmund survived a second-leg loss to reach the final with a 4-3 combined score...
06:29 PM, May 03, 2013
Madrid: The failure of Barcelona and Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final on May 25 has allowed La Liga to rearrange the penultimate round of matches, the Spanish league (LFP) said on Thursday. Leaders Barcelona were hammered 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern Munich in their semi-final while second-placed Real went down 4-3 against Borussia Dortmund. "In line with a prevision made in the calendar... that if no Spanish...
10:54 PM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona's Champions League humbling by Bayern Munich on Wednesday will not prompt wholesale changes to the squad and the 7-0 aggregate reverse would have been avoided had the team not been decimated by injury, coach Tito Vilanova said. Barca suffered their worst ever European defeat over two legs in the last-four clash against the German champions, but were missing their Argentine World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for...
08:54 AM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona were dealt a blow as they prepare for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Bayern Munich when midfielder Sergio Busquets and defender Eric Abidal were ruled out through injury. "Sergio Busquets and Eric Abidal will not feature in tomorrow's match," Barca said in a statement on their website on Tuesday. "The midfielder has not recovered from the (groin) injury that kept him from playing ......
12:24 AM, May 01, 2013
Madrid: No team has ever advanced after losing the first leg of a European Cup tie by four goals. To Lionel Messi, that doesn't mean it can't be done. After he and Barcelona were mauled 4-0 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday, Messi said they must not give up hope for the return leg at the Camp Nou next week. That, he said, will be "a...
11:23 PM, Apr 24, 2013
You aren't a journalist if you don't speculate. So what if the speculation is about the world coming to an end after watching the world's best football club capitulate in a manner that might even shame the German defeat at Stalingrad? As sports fans and observers, we are often prone to hyperbole, but that may be excused if the matter up for debate is whether modern football's most decorated and...
04:53 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Madrid: Even Lionel Messi, so often Barcelona's saviour, was at a loss to explain how the La Liga leaders could come back from their Champions League semi-final mauling in Munich. Barca were thumped 4-0 away by an impressive Bayern Munich in their first leg on Tuesday, putting in one of their most toothless displays in recent memory. On Wednesday, they were greeted with newspaper headlines such as 'Historic beating' in...
03:47 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Munich: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been given the all-clear to play in their Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich later on Tuesday after recovering from a hamstring strain, the La Liga club said. "The Argentine player has the green light from the doctors to take part in the crucial match against the German side," Barca said in a statement on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). Messi, who sustained the...
11:02 PM, Apr 23, 2013
