After the successful signings of Thierry Henry, Touré Yaya and Eric Abidal, Barça now want to complete their summer signings with a decent central defender. The likelihood of Chivu signing seem to be diminishing with time. Inter Milan are now thought to be favourites to sign him. Second choice is supposed to be Gabi Milito, who would be fine by me, but Juventus are also reported to be interested in him.

On the likely-to-leave list we find Ezquerro, Thiago Motta, Giuly, Belletti and Gudjohnsen. Barça are said to have received an offer of €3million for Motta from AC Milan, but apparently Barça want to hold out for a bit more money. This seems fair enough, Motta might not be good enough for Barça, but surely he’s worth more than three million euros. Another player still on Barça’s books is Maxi Lopez who has completed his loan period with Mallorca, and still has two years left on his contract with Barça. Maxi, who is back in Buenas Aires on holiday, is waiting to here from Barça about his future.

Barça have announced that this year’s Joan Gamper tournament will take place on 29th August. La Liga 2007/8  starts the weekend before so this takes away a bit of the excitement of a game which traditionally gives the fans their first chance to see the season’s new signings. This year’s rivals are Inter Milan so we may see a return of old favourite Luis Figo at Camp Nou. Don’t forget to take your pig’s head.

Ending on a happy note, Albert Jorquera got married last night. I hope it brings him happiness and extra penalty-saving qualities.