Football Field

This somewhat confirms that Emmanuel Adebayor is very close to a Milan switch. Recent reports by the player’s agent has revealed that the Togolese striker’s deal with Milan is about 80 percent complete. Barcelona were apparently keen on bringing the lanky striker in, but the player has expressed more interest in a move to the Rossoneri, which could see him join his old teammate Mathieu Flamini, who joined Milan earlier this transfer season on a free transfer. Zenit’s sporting director Konstantin Sarsaniya has stated that the Catalans have made a formal proposal for Arshavin, and that they will begin talks when the player returns to Zenit, from his international duties with Russia. Many Barca fans are craving to see this stumpy striker at the Camp Nou, as he is seen as an ideal replacement for Deco, who is likely to leave Barcelona shorty for either Chelsea or Inter according to reports. Arshavin is a very versatile player and can play many positions including second striker, winger an …

Apparently they have a total of approximately 260 youth players learning their trade here - Ninety percent of them are Spanish and more than 50 percent Catalans. In fact the current Barca team have 12 first team players who have come from the academy. There are several youngsters that had lived at La Masia have gone on to play for the first team, such as Josep “Pep” Guardiola (academy years 1984-90), Ivan De la Pe a (1991-94), Carles Puyol (1994-98), Andres Iniesta (1996-2001), V ctor Valdes (1996-2000) and Lionel Messi (2000-04). Pep was touted as La Masia’s greatest product. A charismatic player who played 43 caps for Spain and won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. He led the club to six La Liga titles, one Champions Cup in 1992 and two Spanish Cups. Puyol, a native Catalunyan, is the club current skipper and heading towards his 250th game for the club. However not all the graduates of La Masia established themselves at Barcelona and some have moved to other clubs to a …