David Dein joins EPFL and La Liga on Soccerex's league panel!

Soccerex have confirmed that David Dein, one of the foremost authorities in European football and one of the founders of the English Premier League will be speaking at this year's Soccerex European Forum on April 10/11 in Manchester.

The former Arsenal and The FA Vice-Chairman will be speaking on the 'League Leaders' panel alongside La Liga CEO Francisco Roca and the Association of European Professional Football League (EPFL) CEO Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros. Drawing on their vast experience, David and Francisco will discuss the comparative strengths of the Premier League and La Liga and then open up the discussion to look at the broader issues affecting Europe's top leagues including the impact of FFP and the role of leagues in enforcing it, marketing to an international audience, corruption and the possibility of a winter World Cup and the impact it will have on European leagues.

As Vice-Chairman of Arsenal FC for 24 years, president of the G-14 group of European football clubs from 2006 to 2007 and responsible for bringing some of the biggest names to the Premier League such as Arsène Wenger, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry, David is one of the foremost authorities in European football and will be able to provide an expert opinion throughout the session.

Commenting on his participation David Dein said, "I'm delighted to be speaking at the Forum alongside Francisco and Emanuel. As Europe's leading football business event, it allows the industry to renew its interest and passion for the game and bring the industry closer together."

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said, "We are thrilled to have David speaking at the Forum, without him there would be no Premier League as we see it today. His comparative insight on European football alongside Francisco and Emanuel is a key session of the Forum and will be a privilege to listen to."

The Soccerex European Forum is a two-day event which attracts over 1,600 delegates from the elite of Europe's football industry to come together to debate, network and do business. This year's agenda setting conference programme will tackle the key issues shaping European football, including fan engagement, media rights, match fixing, discrimination and addiction, life after football, social media and a selection of special 1-2-1 sessions with Gianni Infantino, Alexey Sorokin, Sir John Madejski, Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Neville.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/europe .

Malaga CF: Rise & Fall of a La Liga club

Málaga CF had their best ever finish last season as the club from the Costa del Sol finished fourth in the Spanish La Liga to reach the UEFA Champions League play-offs. But all is not well for the club then their Qatari owner Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani has lost interest in the club and suddenly all the work of the last couple of years could simply collapse.

It all started in June 2010 when Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani bought the shares of Lorenzo Sanz, a former president of Real Madrid. The arrival of the Qatari investors ushered a new era for Malaga with Al-Thani's aim being to challenge Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the years to come.

The club from Andalusia brought in high profile players like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Santi Cazorla, Martin Demichelis, Jeremy Toulalan and Joris Mathijsen along with a high profile coach in Chilean Manuel Pellegrini. The Qatari owners spend more then 150 Million Euros on the club.

The plans seemed to work as last season the club finished fourth in La Liga, but now Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani has lost interest in the club and for months no payments have been received by the club, players have not been paid their salaries, former Spain captain Fernando Hierro resigned as manager. The new situation stalled Malaga's further push to close the gap on the Spanish giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

The club has started selling their stars. Venezuelan striker José Salomón Rondón has been sold for 9 Million Euros to Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan, while Spanish international Santi Cazorla could move for more then 20 Million Euros to English Premiership club FC Arsenal.

Malaga is simply fighting for survival then without outside cash from a new investor the chances of staying in La Liga are difficult due to the financial problems in Spain and the unfair TV rights distribution in Spanish football. The search is on but the bad experiences with the Qataris will make Malaga CF careful in choosing a new foreign investor.

Germans win European club football sponsorship league!

As with the UEFA Champions League final, it was a close run between the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga as to who takes the European club football sponsorship crown.

According to a new report from International Marketing Reports, overall primary shirt sponsorship deals are greater for the English Premiership, but averaged out by club, the Germans just edge it. For the 2011/12 season, total shirt sponsorship spend for the Premier League amounted to (Euros) E128m, whereas Bundesliga clubs achieved E121m.

However, there are 20 clubs in the English Premiership giving an average deal value of E6.4m whereas in Germany there are 18 clubs, meaning the average deal is slightly higher at E6.72m.

Commenting on the findings, report author, Simon Rines, says that there are other reasons for the Germans to be satisfied.

"If you look at the deals in detail, there is much less polarity in German deals than in the UK. The highest price paid in Germany is E26.5m for Bayern Munich's deal with Deutsche Telekom, with the lowest being FC Ausberg's E1m agreement with car components manufacturer AL-KO. There are, however, very few deals below E3m in Germany and 12 are above E4m. In England, the highest deals are for the two Manchester clubs, both on E22m, with the lowest being Blackburn Rovers on zero (charity partner) and Norwich on E0.3m (Aviva). Significantly, only 9 Premiership clubs achieve more than E4m and 11 achieve less than E3m."

Rines also points out that the business sectors backing the Bundesliga show a more mature picture.

"In England there are seven gambling sponsors. This is a concern because gambling companies tend to be short-lived and do little to help develop the image of a club. For example, it is not, appropriate to run joint promotions with a sponsor involving children if that sponsor is a gambling or alcohol company. In Germany there are no shirt sponsors from either category."

The report also shows that Spain's La Liga is the biggest struggler in terms of sponsorship investment. Several clubs went through the season without a shirt sponsor and if it wasn't for the massive E32m deal between Barcelona and the Qatar Foundation and Real Madrid's E21m from BWin, the total spend in the country would have been just E9m, an average of E0.5m for the remaining clubs.

"The figures highlight the polarity of income for La Liga clubs," says Rines. "The difference in the size of TV deals that Barcelona and Real Madrid have compared to the rest of La Liga is already huge, but when sponsorship income is added, the financial imbalance just grows. With a deteriorating Spanish economy, the likelihood is that the situation will get even worse. A lot of the sponsorships in the division are with national companies and it is almost inevitable that they will be cutting back on their marketing budgets."

VIDEO: Pep Guardiola departure press conference

There was an impressive press conference in Barcelona today! FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at that press conference announced that he would not renew his contact after four years in-charge and explains the reasons why he has decided to leave the club at the end of the season.

FC Barcelona: Guardiola steps down, Vilanova to take over

Pep Guardiola (full name Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala) announced at a press conference today that he will leave Spanish giants FC Barcelona at the end of the season after four mostly successful years in which the Catalan club won 13 titles though over the last week the club lost against Real Madrid to lose the Spanish Primera Division title and lost 2-3 on aggregate to Chelsea FC not able to defend their UEFA Champions League title.

The reason for Guardiola's departure isn't failure but that the demands of the job were too high and his energy levels too low to continue at the Nou Camp.

"Four years are long and they wear you down," Guardiola said. "I think that sincerely that the next person will have things to bring that I can't."

"Every day during four years, the demands are very high, the pressure, the necessary energy to push the players and enjoy it. I need to rest and move away," Guardiola added.

Barca still have the chance to win the Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) against Athletic Bilbao on May 25, which could take Guardiola's title count to 14.

There has been speculation for weeks on who could replace Guardiola at Barca if he steps down, but not Marcelo Bielsa, André Villas-Boas, Luis Enrique or Barca Youth coach Oscar Garcia were announced as replacements. The Barca management decided to name Guardiola assistant Tito Vilanova as his successor.

"I think the club is right (on Tito). He is more than qualified, and the players know him, he will change very little of what we do, and he will give a lot to the players and club," Guardiola said.

41 year old Pep Guardiola build one of the best teams in the history of club football during his tenure as FC Barcelona coach. Players like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez to name a few have developed great under the coach.

Guardiola said at the press conference that he had decided in December 2011 to take a break from football coaching due to the massive pressure in the club.

VIDEO: Incredible back-heel by Cristiano Ronaldo

It was Cristiano Ronaldo's 29th goal of the season for Real Madrid, but most probably the best strike of the season by the Portuguese! An incredible back-heel by CR7 within the box only a few yards away from the goal after a Mesut Özil corner, which left the Rayo Vallecano defenders baffled.

VIDEO: Best Goals Compilation 2010/11

A great link that a friend send me a few days ago showed some great goals from last season across the top European leagues - England, Spain, Italy, Germany - besides UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Watch and simply enjoy!

Mesut Oezil: Real Madrid's new No. 10

I will be very honest. Last summer when German internationals Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira left the Bundesliga to join Spanish giants Real Madrid I didn't believe that they would directly be able to make an impact with the Los Blancos under the new high profile manager Jose Mourinho. They have both positively surprised me.

Especially Oezil has grown unbelievably in stature over the last season. A year back I had my doubts if the move to Real Madrid is the right one at such a young age. I had written a blog entry under the title
Can Oezil make it at Real Madrid? at the time.

After year one I can say, he has not only made it, he's on the way to become one of the best players in the world. Now Oezil has the honour of wearing the legendary number 10 at Real Madrid.

Defensive midfielder Lassana Diarra was a misfit in such an iconic number which at Real Madrid has been worn by players like Ferenc Puskás (Hungary), Günter Netzer (West Germany), Michael Laudrup (Denmark), Clarence Seedorf (Netherlands), Figo (Portugal), Robinho (Brazil) and Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Oezil moves from the No. 23 jersey which he wore in season one, a number which has been worn by David Beckham and too by Wesley Sneijder in his first season at the club, so good company.

Spain's La Liga on ESPN-Star Sports from 2012 onwards

ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) has bought the rights for La Liga, the Spanish Football League, for a three year period from 2012 to 2015 to broadcast it across 18 Asian countries amongst them India.

ESS Asia Managing Director Manu Sawhney said in a statement, "This acquisition underlines our commitment to football fans in the region as we continue providing the most compelling content to our viewers, and an excellent promotional platform for our business partners. We have established a strong tradition in building and strengthening top-class football properties on our networks with the reach of our networks, multiple media platforms, world-class match presentation and our continued focus towards original, localized football programming and innovative marketing campaigns."

"The presence of the La Liga on our networks positions us as a leader in football content in Asia, and this programming is undoubtedly a tremendous value to our affiliate partners, advertisers and viewers," added Sawhney.

ESS has acquired the rights from Mediapro, the global broadcasting rights holders for the Spanish La Liga. Commenting on the development Mediapro Managing Director Gerard Romy said, "We are pleased with their commitment to showcase La Liga across new media platforms in order to extend the profile of this great football league."

ESS will broadcast La Liga from the 2012-13 to the 2014-15 season in 18 countries across the continent which includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Philippines.

ESS has bought the rights on multiple distribution platforms - television, mobile and online for these countries as they will not only focus on the TV market but over forms of media too.

ESS also happens to be the rights holders of the English Premier League and from 2012 onwards they will be showing over 600 matches from two of Europe's top football leagues. This means that ESS will be showing matches involving iconic clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The next 2011/12 season the rights stay with Ten Sports, who will be showing La Liga until it returns to ESPN-Star Sports.

FC Barcelona - A system of their own

FC Barcelona won their third UEFA Champions League title in five years on May 28 when they beat English giants Manchester United 3-1 in the final. It was a demonstration of modern-day tiki taka football against the Red Devils who themselves are amongst the crème de la crème in European club football.

There is no doubt that Barca currently plays the best football, but only history will tell if it becomes an era. FC Barcelona is different then the rest of their competitors be it the English Premier League clubs - Manchester United, FC Chelsea, FC Arsenal, FC Liverpool and new boys Manchester City; Italians AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus Torino; Germany's FC Bayern Munich and local rivals Real Madrid.

Unlike the other clubs who have rich investors from Asia and the America's or strong corporate backing, FC Barcelona is a public club as a registered association with over 170,000 members, the speciality being that these members have a say in the running of the club as last years elections proved where Sandro Rosell took over from Juan Laporta.

But in October 2010 Barca broken with tradition by signing their first-ever shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation which will run for five and a half years until the end of the 2015/16 season. The deal is worth €166 million and the club will receive 30 Million Euros per season, a new record in club shirt sponsorship in world football, higher then what Bayern Munich (27 million), Real Madrid and Manchester United (both 25 million) receive.

With the deal the club broke with their 111 year old tradition of never ever having had a shirt sponsor out of necessity then an audit in July 2010 by Deliotte showed that the club had debts of 442 Million Euros, which the new management attributed to structural problems at the club. But over the last five years Barca's chest wasn't empty as the club in a unique move had UNICEF on their shirts and under the deal Barca paid UNICEF 1,5 Million Euros in support of the United Nations children's fund.

Some say Barca is losing its soul and becoming just another football club or an entity forced to do things out of business interest, then they simply can't afford to allow their shirt front not to earn them revenue, they need the income to compete with their rivals.

The extent of the financial troubles were detected last year by the clubs new president Sandro Rosell and his board of directors, when they had asked an audit firm to carry out a new audit of Barcelona's financial figures and what came out was simply put a disaster. The old audit showed a profit of 11 Million Euros in June 2010, while the new audit only a month later suddenly showed a staggering loss of 77,1 Million Euros.

The new Barca audit showed operating income of 408.8 million Euros but costs of 477.9 million Euro compared with previous figures published under former president Joan Laporta of 445.5 million Euros as income and 429 million Euros as costs, the club published on their website ( www.fcbarcelona.cat ) at the time. It will be interesting to see what figures Barca release in the coming weeks as they hope their success increases their revenues.

In 2009 I had the chance to visit Barca at their home while the Indian national football team was there on an invitation from FC Barcelona. It was a great experience to see for myself their stadium the Nou Camp, one of the iconic venues of world football; La Masia - the historic football academy situated besides the Nou Camp from which players like Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta have come besides the passion for football amongst the Catalans.

Barca's youth development system is the best in the world. If you look at their starting eleven in the UEFA Champions League final then seven of their players have come through their youth ranks in Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Pedro Rodrigues.

The club buys players for specific positions, not names like other teams. Players like Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Éric Abidal and David Villa have come and incorporated the Barca gene in them. These players haven't come cheap with Spanish World Cup winner David Villa having been the costliest at 40 Million Euros last summer, but he has been worth the investment with his goals winning Barca the Champions League and Spanish La Liga titles.

The big difference between the Barca way of youth development is their focus in the crucial years of the youngsters. While most clubs around the world mainly prioritize on physique and physical strength in their youth academies. At Barca they first focus is on character education, teaching the boys the ethics of being a Barca player before they work on brain, technique and decision.

One thing is common from the first team over the reserves to the junior sides they play an attacking 4-3-3 system which is build on free flowing football. And it makes things easier for youngsters to move up the ranks as they play within the same system, something which other clubs are trying to copy around the world.

One action after the match highlighted the special bondage in the Barca team. Carlos Puyol, who himself had come on as a substitute, passed on his captains armband ahead of the handover of the Champions League trophy to Eric Abidal, who had only a few weeks earlier had an operation for a liver tumour and made a surprise quick comeback. It was Abidal who first lifted the trophy.

Too much El Clásico??? The lessons...

The series of four El Clásico matches between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona ended yesterday evening and to me at the end a lot around the games had nothing to do with football, but rather problems between these two giants of world football and their internal Spanish feud between the capital Madrid and the region of Catalunya.

Looking back at the results. The first match was on April 16 in the Spanish league which ended with a one-all draw with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scoring from the spot and Barca keeing their eight point lead. The teams then met only four days later in the final of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) in Valencia which was decided by a Cristiano Ronaldo in extra-time in favour of Real Madrid.

Then came the two meetings in the UEFA Champions League with especially the first match a nasty affair with two red cards and the expulsion of coach Jose Mourinho though referee Wolfgang Stark did a good job. In the end it was nearly forgotten that Barca won the match 2-0 away in Madrid through two goals from Messi, which gave them a major advantage of the return-leg.

But between these two matches Champions League matches especially Real Madrid was active in trying to portrait their rivals as unfair sportsmen, which didn't find an ear with UEFA and the fourth and final El Clásico went off rather smoothly ending in a one-all draw. First a Pedro goal for Barca which sealed the tie for them and a consolation equaliser for Real Madrid from Marcelo.

The series ended - with a win each and two draws. Both clubs couldn't win a triple, but it is worrying to me to see the way officials, players and fans have behaved over the last few weeks. Often it seemed is if it wasn't about the football, but rather open hate and aggression. Both sides have been acusing each other of things and maybe now after the end of the four match series UEFA and the Spanish Football Association should have a word with the clubs and request them to tone down next time around or otherwise hit out with tough sanctions, if that is the only way all will learn.

Then in the end it is about the beautiful game, something which seems to be getting lost...

Getafe not sold to Dubai Group just yet

In an interesting turn of events Getafe CF president Angel Torres denied yesterday after his return from Dubai that his club had already been sold to the Dubai based Royal Emirates Group.

"I was in Dubai looking for sponsors. We signed a series of agreements and protocols. No one should doubt Angel Torres. Getafe has not yet been sold," he told reporters on his return from Dubai at Madrid airport.

"First I have to inform the board of all the things that were done, then I will give a news conference," added Torres.

It sounds little different then what was said on Thursday in a press conference in Dubai where the Royal Emirates Group chairman Sheikh Butti bin Suhail al-Maktoum and his Managing Director announced the takeover of the club by the investment company.

The deal isn't off, but some follow-up negotiations might have to be done until the deal is 100% confirmed.

Getafe CF bought by Royal Emirates Group

Dubai based Royal Emirates Group were scouting the European club market for a while and in the end they decided to buy Getafe Club de Fútbol, a small club in the Madrid metropolitan area. It is now the third Spanish Primera Division club in foreign ownership after FC Malaga last year was sold to Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family for about 25 Million Euros; while Racing Santander was bought by Indian businessman Ali Ahsan Syed earlier this year for up to 40 Million Euros.

"We are very happy to sign this agreement with Getafe, which will be called Getafe Team Dubai," the group's chairman, Sheikh Butti bin Suhail al-Maktoum told reporters in Dubai.

While Getafe CF president, Angel Torres, said he hopes the agreement "will push Getafe to the highest level in domestic and European competition."

The 100 percent stake in Getafe CF is worth between 70 to 90 Million Euros with the exact figure not disclosed. The Royal Emirates Group is an investment firm chaired by Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, a member of the royal family of Dubai and they have ambitions with the club to compete in the UEFA Champions League in the coming seasons.

Currently Getafe are 14th in the Primera Division standings, but only four points away from the relegation spots though last season they finished sixth and that would be the aim of the new owners to finish amongst the top six to play either Champions League or Europa League next season and a year later they would like to see the club qualify for the Champions League.

Very high expectations for the club to deliver and if officials from the Royal Emirates Group are to be believed then they are willing to spend in the transfer market to bring in the right players to compete with clubs like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Valencia, FC Villarreal, etc.

El Clásico XXL. Match One a draw

Last nights El Clásico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Division ended in a one-all draw and didn't create the sparks as the first-leg game had had on November 29, 2010 when Barca trashed Real Madrid 5-0 in a one sided display of modern day football.

What gives the El Clásico even more importance is that both clubs meet four times over a two and a half week period with both clubs still having the chance for a rare treble. The first meeting yesterday was in the Spanish league, then they meet again in the final of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) on Wednesday, 20 April; which will be followed by their two-legged UEFA Champions League semifinal - on April 27 at Real's Santiago Bernabéu and Barca hosting the second game on May 3 at the Nou Camp.

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was sold out with 80,354 spectators and if Real Madrid had any more ambitions on winning back the Spanish La Liga title then a win was a must as Barca went into the game with an eight point lead at the top of the table.

Real coach Jose Mourinho started the game on a defensive note after the drubbing in the last game with Sami Khedira, Pepe and Xabi Alonso giving the task to block Barca's short pass game in midfield. It did work as Barca had more of the ball, but Real Madrid the better chances in the first half.

The game really came to life only in the second session as proceedings became more intense. Real Madrid had the first chance of the half as a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick dropped onto the crossbar, but only minutes later Raul Albiol would bring down David Villa to earn Barca a penalty and a straight red for Albiol. Lionel Messi would take the resultant penalty to give Barca a 53rd minute lead.

Thereafter Barca didn't push for a second against a 10 men Real Madrid and they paid the price when Dani Alves brought down Marcelo with referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez once more pointing to the spot. Cristiano Ronaldo would walk up to take the penalty and score in the 82nd minute past Victor Valdes to give Real a deserving draw.

But the draw means Barca remain eight points ahead of Real Madrid with six matches to go and having lost only one match all season it looks like that the Catalans will retain the Primera Division title.

Surprises in Leagues across Europe

The top leagues across Europe are five to seven weeks old, but surprisingly all seem to be not be running as per the usual script. What is such a script? An unwritten rule is that bigger club sides are in the top half of the league and smaller sides fight for survival. Lets have a look what which sides are currently on the wrong side of the league table.


England

One of the biggest surprises is that record champions FC Liverpool are amongst the bottom three of the Premier League. Off the field the Merseyside club have been problems for month's and in to days a 237 Million punds payoff will have to be made to RBS. But after a dismal last season in which the club couldn't finish amongst the top four, this year things look much worse under new coach Roy Hodgson. The club is 18th with only six points from seven games with only a win to the Reds. They will hope for better results in the coming weeks with local rivals Everton starting as bad them into the season, only that the Blues have a better goal difference.

At least at the top things are normal with champions Chelsea FC leading the pack.


Germany

The Bundesliga are the craziest of all leagues with minnows Mainz 05 on top and VfB Stuttgart bottom of the league, while last years runners-up FC Schalke 04 are second from bottom. For Stuttgart the situation seems to be a deja vu as last season too they found themselves early on in the relegation zone, but it wasn't as bad as this year. At Schalke coach Magath played puzzle in putting his new squad together to be able to challenge bigger sides in the Champions League, but it has backfired in the league as the new team haven't been able to get their act together. And their only win of the league so far was more luck then a good performance.


Spain

In the Spanish Primera Division it is the story of former La Liga champions Deportivo La Coruna. The club from Galicia have been going through tough times and they have reached the lowest low with the club winless after six games and bottom of the league. But it is early in the season, so they can work their way out of the relegation zone.


Italy

The relegation zone in the Serie A is a who is who of Italian football. Bottom of the league are Udinese Calcio, above them AS Roma and FC Parma plus just above the relegation zone are AC Florentina. All these clubs have played European competitions in recent years and would look to turn things around. But the results over the first six rounds haven't been the way these clubs would have wanted them.


France

The French league is also playing crazy. Stade Rennes are on top ahead of AS St. Etienne while RC Lens are in the relegation zone as 19th after eight rounds, while Olympique Lyonnais with a win over the weekend moved out of the relegation zone. Lyon is a regular participant in the Champions League and earlier this decade had won seven league titles in a row. While another club in AJ Auxerre moved a little away from the danger zone with a 4-0 win against bottom club AC Arles-Avignon.


But for all these clubs the season is young and chances are there to turn the season around with a series of wins. But if things continue this way until the winter then some of these clubs will have to readjust their ambitions for the 2010/11 season.

Real Madrid want Oezil

Young Mesut Oezil was one of the stand-out performers of the German national team this summer at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. And such performances are bound to draw interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe - Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FC Arsenal and Manchester United have all been linked to the 21 year old from Gelsenkirchen.

Now Spanish giants Real Madrid have taken that interest to the next level by making a first offer for Mesut Oezil to his current club Werder Bremen, but the German Bundesliga side have turned it down. Bremen's Director of Sport Klaus Allofs said, "We have received an unacceptable offer that does not even provide any basis for negotiations."

But this isn't the end of the road for negotiations as Mesut Oezil himself has said that he would love to move to the Spanish capital. Oezil said Saturday after Bremen's German Cup game in Ahlen, "When you have such an opportunity like this, then you want to take it."

Now Real Madrid will have to up their offer as Werder Bremen will also want to cash in on Oezil as he is a free agent at the end of next season which would mean he could leave the North German club on a free transfer. But there could be a deadline on Wednesday, August 18 as Werder Bremen face Sampdoria Genoa in a UEFA Champions League qualifier that day. And if Bremen use Oezil in that match, then he would be blocked for the 2010/11 season to play for another club in European competitions and that would render him somewhat useless to the aims of Real Madrid.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has recently spoken highly of Oezil, "If he comes, it would certainly be excellent. Oezil would definitely help us." And this means Real's Director of Sport Jorge Valdano will go back to Bremen with an improved offer and see how the Germans react. Like in the case of Oezil's Germany team mate Sami Khedira and his old club VfB Stuttgart, in the end it was a matter of time and money. And Real Madrid surely have the deep pockets, only time could be a factor in this transfer. But when a player wants to leave the releasing club has little options but to let him go and take a hefty transfer fee.

FC Barcelona in financial trouble

Yesterday I wrote about the Balearic island club RCD Mallorca being banned by UEFA from its competitions for the 2010/11 season. And now could their big Spanish La Liga brothers FC Barcelona be following them soon?

When I wrote my blog entry I didn't know that FC Barcelona was facing this big a financial problem when I named them as an example of a big club who could face the axe due to the new financial regulations being put in place by UEFA for their club competitions. Now it will be interesting to see if UEFA asks for further financial details from Barca before confirming their place in the UEFA Champions League 2010/11 or letting them off with a warning that next year they would scrutinize them more thoroughly.

The new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and his board of directors had asked Deloitte to carry out a new audit of Barcelona's financial figures and what has come out is simply put a disaster. The old audit showed a profit of 11 Million Euros only in June, while the new audit now suddenly shows a staggering loss of 77,1 Million Euros.

The new Barca audit showed operating income of 408.8 million Euros and costs of 477.9 million Euro compared with previous figures published under former president Joan Laporta of 445.5 million Euros as income and 429 million Euros as costs, the club published on their website (www.fcbarcelona.cat) yesterday.

And that Barcelona has a liquidity problem was known in late-June when the club was forced to seek a 150 Million Euro bank loan to cover for difficulties in their cash flow. One of the key problems was salary payments to their highly paid players.
And what makes the scenario even more scary is the fact that Barca's net debt has risen from 329 Million Euros to now an incredible 442 Million Euros.

Javier Faus, a Barca vice president, said at a press conference, "There is a structural problem. The sporting excellence of the past few years has not been reflected in excellence in economic management."

To the outside world it always seemed Real Madrid where the Spanish club spending loads of money on their Galacticos, while Barcelona was focusing on their youth development programme and buying players here and there to strengthen the squad. But when one now knows these figures and also knows that the club has already spend 40 Million Euros on bringing in Spanish star striker David Villa from FC Valencia and Adriano for 9,5 Million Euros from FC Sevilla for new players, then one also understands why the club had to sell Yaya Toure for 30 Millions Euros to Manchester City and allow Dmytro Chygrynskiy to return to Shakhtar Donetsk for 15 Million Euros to even out the clubs spending in the transfer market. But still the club is trying to lure Cesc Fabregas away from FC Arsenal with a big pay package and a hefty transfer fee for Arsenal. Can Barca actually afford it?

Also Barca shows the problems of Spanish club football. Spain is World and European champions plus their clubs are amongst the best in the world, but this success has been bought by the Spanish with money which they don't have. And if a club like FC Barcelona faces such problems with all the advantages they enjoys along with Real Madrid in that country then think about the smaller Spanish clubs. Spanish clubs have more then 3,5 Billion Euros in debt, the figure is growing by the minute, and new streams of revenue are unlikely to be found and TV rights revenue is at its peak. Sadly difficult times coming for Spanish football...

Fabregas - this summers transfer saga?

We are only days away from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but like every summer there is talk and gossip going on about potential transfers happening or not. Last summer it was the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United to Real Madrid that kept us busy, besides transfers of Kaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic taking place.

This summer it could be that of FC Arsenal London captain Cesc Fàbregas returning to his home club FC Barcelona. Barca want their lost son back and the lost son wants to return home, only Arsenal don't want their influential captain to leave the Emirates Stadium with Fàbregas still having a contract with the Gunners which runs until 2015.

After much talk and showing of interest FC Barcelona formally handed in a transfer request to Arsenal on Tuesday, which the English Premier League club rejected outright. The offer was said to be in the region of 29 Million Euros, which is much lower then the current market rate at which Fàbregas stands at around 55 Million Euros. It seems like Barca wanted to test the waters, while Arsenal wants to stay firm.

A statement on the Arsenal website said:
"Yesterday evening we received an offer from Barcelona for Cesc Fàbregas. In response, we immediately and resolutely told them once again we have no intention of selling our captain. To be clear, we will not make any kind of counterproposal or enter into any discussion. Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word."

Barca meanwhile informed the world about their formal transfer request approach through Twitter.

Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler was born on May 4, 1987 in Vilassar de Mar, north-east of Barcelona in Catalonia. He joined FC Barcelona at a young age, but wasn't seen as someone capable of getting into the first team at a young age. So in 2003 he was allowed to leave for FC Arsenal and only a year later with injuries to key players Fàbregas got his first starts under coach Arsene Wenger for the Gunners in the Premier League. The rest as many would say is history as Fàbregas established himself as a key player in the Arsenal squad, even going on to become the clubs captain.

This summer transfer saga has only started and one will have to see if Arsenal can hang onto Fàbregas or at a certain price the club would agree to sell the Spaniard, maybe in a part cash and player swap deal. Barca have already signed Spanish international striker David Villa from FC Valencia to strengthen their squad further and Fàbregas would be the perfect addition to a squad which already boasts of talent like Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta.

The "Special One" has landed

Spanish giants Real Madrid today unveiled their new coach - Jose Mourinho. And many say it is a match made in Heaven, but the "Special One" will have to prove if he can make Real Madrid into the "Real One".

And I doubt if a new era of Galacticos is set to happen as Mourinho's style of play is rather result oriented football a la Inter Milan this season. If the Real faithfuls will accept such football will have to be seen, but then in the end winning matches and titles is what football is mostly about. Isn't it?

The Portuguese has signed a four year contract with the Spanish giants worth 10 Million Euros per annum. Real Madrid and Mourinho's last club Italian giants Internationale Milan had agreed on a compensation package to finalise the deal.

The 47-year-old replaces Chilean Manuel Pellegrini to become Real Madrid's eleventh coach in the past seven years. The clubs management will surely want some continuity in whoever is their coach in the coming years.

The club hopes to launch a new era of success under one of the most successful coaches of our times. But Mourinho has a real task on his hands, coaching at one of the toughest club sides in the world where expectations are higher then anywhere else.
Be it the clubs management or the fans they would expect the club to regain the Spanish league title from FC Barcelona plus in Europe to cross the pre-quarterfinal stage six years and win the UEFA Champions League title after nine long years. And then Mourinho is coming from Inter Milan as a treble winning coach.
So expectations will be sky high...

For Mourinho coming back to Spain makes his career come foul circle. It all started in Barcelona 14 years ago as a translator to Bobby Robson at the Catalan giants, now he joins their biggest rivals. And over this UEFA Champions League season he made himself "persona non grata" in Barcelona by his on field celebration after Inter Milan beat Barca in the semifinals. And then Inter Milan went on to win the Champions League title against Bayern Munich in the final at Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium.

One will have to wait and see if Mourinho can create his own ecosystem at Real Madrid like he was able to create at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan which allows him to operate his way or if the management gets too involved, which could force him to leave the club early. And also if the management gives the coach the time to build his own team and keep faith in him if the results don't go Real's...


What do you think. Is Mourinho the right coach for Real Madrid?