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Barcelona hit the road to take on Real Valladolid in a crucial La Liga game tonight. They can shorten the gap between themselves and the league leaders with a win tonight. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 22 December 2020.
Ronald Koeman responds to Lionel Messi's comments
Speaking to the press ahead of Barcelona's upcoming match against Real Valladolid, Ronald Koeman offered his thoughts on a number of issues. He responded to Lionel Messi's comments over his potential exit among many other things.
Messi broke his silence on the speculation around his future by stating that he is focused on the project at hand and is looking to win all the trophies he can at Barcelona. In response to that, Barcelona manager Koeman said,
I don’t need to see a Messi interview to see how hungry and motivated he is. I see him with the team and his team-mates. It’s always tough for any player who has won as much as he has not to win every match. I don’t know all he said in the interview, we’ll see, but what he said about being motivated, I see that every day.
Former Liverpool star believes Wijnaldum will join Barcelona
Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has admitted that though he wants Georginio Wijnaldum to stay at Anfield, the Dutchman might have decided to move on. Wijnaldum has entered the final months of his contract at Liverpool and though he has been a mainstay in Liverpool's team in the recent past, he might move.
Barcelona are interested in signing Wijnaldum and Liverpool might find it hard to give him a new deal with fresh terms especially considering his 30 now. Speaking to Liverpool Echo, Aldridge said,
“You don’t know what is going on behind the scenes with Gini Wijnaldum. Agents are hard to deal with. Gini is in an ideal position now. His contract is running out, he’s going to be free.
He still loves Liverpool I’m sure. But there are going to be reasons behind it. Only he knows. If Gini wants to go, he’ll go. It’s as simple as that. It’s all in Gini’s court. Will the club push the boat out and give him what he wants? I don’t know, we’ll have to watch this space and trust the manager.
“But if he wants to go, he’ll probably go.”
Jordi Farre says Neymar is welcome to return but on one condition
Neymar sent the rumour mill into overdrive by saying that wants to reunite with Lionel Messi after PSG's win over Manchester United. Whether that's going to happen at Paris Saint-Germain or Barcelona remains to be seen.
Now Barcelona presidential candidate Jordi Farre has said during an interview with RAC1 that Neymar is welcome to return to Barcelona if he withdraws the lawsuits and asks for forgiveness.
“Neymar will be welcome, but the first thing he has to do is withdraw his lawsuits, ask for forgiveness without humiliation. We all make mistakes.
“We spoke with his entourage, and they talked about ‘coming home. Who doesn’t want the third-best player in the world on the team? There is one option, which is the ‘transfer request’. At 40-45 million euros, he would come.”
