La Liga - Barcelona to call off Fabregas chase

Eurosport - Mon, 17 Aug 13:47:00 2009

Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain admits the club may not add Cesc Fabregas - or anyone - to the squad this summer.

FOOTBALL Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal - 0

The Catalans have all but given up on bringing Arsenal's Fabregas back to the Nou Camp and speculation is rife that they have now switched their attention to Liverpool winger Albert Riera.

"It is possible that no-one will come in," said Begiristain. "Who comes in has to convince us, and above all the coaches."

Former Espanyol player Riera is the latest in a long list to be linked to Barca, who have signed just Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimovic this summer. But Begiristain has not ruled out the possibility there will be no more new faces before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

"We have gone after who they wanted, but the players we want aren't cheap because they obviously have to be very good," added the sporting director. "The problem is the alternatives, and you have to evaluate if they improve what you have."

Begiristain's comments are not likely to please Barca coach Pep Guardiola who said recently that they are lacking players in several positions.

Samuel Eto'o, Martin Caceres and Alexander Hleb have all left the Nou Camp and assistant coach Tito Vilanova is concerned the treble winners have not replaced them.

He said: "We have always liked small squads because like that everyone can take part, but we have already said that this year, with so many games to play, we need more players.

"At the moment we are missing several players because we have not covered Hleb's departure nor that of Caceres."

Guardiola ruled out the possibility of signing Fabregas this summer but Begiristain has not given up completely on the club's former youth player, saying only that "it is very difficult".

PA Sport

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  1. why whould barca want to buy vidic when the short and­ little messi still can jump higher above tall so-called­ solid like rock (yeah hes a rock..cant jump..haha)­ vidic and ferdinand heads to score the goal in the last­ champions league final! get a life..its only a­ rumour..vidic dont even attract barca..u want a center­ back? get thiago silva from ac milan! hes a future! or­ federico fazio from sevilla! tall like a traffic light!

    From Fazreen A, on Wed 19 Aug 8:22AM

  2. I hope and i wish that Barca will not sign serbian­ Vidic,becouse he iis not good player and i must be­ realistic that i hate him becouse he is serbian.If­ Barca sign Vidic,he will lost all Albanian funs in all­ world.So please don't sign him.VIVA BARCA VIVA­ CATALUNIA VIVA KOSOVA AND ALBANIA

    From Albanian L, on Tue 18 Aug 9:39PM

  3. Vidic had already said in the press that his wife is­ happy here like a month ago so I dunno why this is­ being brought up again??

    From Paul A, on Mon 17 Aug 8:23PM

  4. ibra is a gr8 player but hes not worth 40m and eto!­ they should av bought fab and vidic instead!and plus­ ibra dosnt perform on the big matchs!

    From Declan, on Mon 17 Aug 7:04PM

  5. Barca come back next season with Iniesta and some cash,­ Cesc's yours!

    From Rabbi, on Mon 17 Aug 5:56PM

  6. Not likely

    From Rabbi, on Mon 17 Aug 5:47PM

  7. Vidic would be a bigger loss than Ronaldo and Tevez put­ together! He should have been PFA player of the year­ last year but sentimental players voted for Giggs.­ I'm just worried that if it is up to his missus­ then he might move on! You know footballers, they are­ bossed by their wives (remember Beckham?). He needs to­ stay or united would have taken 5 steps back!

    From shujaahmad2004, on Mon 17 Aug 5:41PM

  8. Why are people slating Rio? He's class! Chumps.

    From shujaahmad2004, on Mon 17 Aug 5:18PM

  9. Shut up Brendan C you clown.

    From shujaahmad2004, on Mon 17 Aug 5:15PM

  10. Let's not be silly.. Vidic is going KNOWHERE. What­ a bunch of @#$% pot.. Barca know that Utd's 3 best­ players are Rooney, Vidic and Ronaldo.. now that the­ latter has gone there is no chance in hell Sir Alex­ would let another go. Plus Vidic has claimed on­ numerous occasions that he is happy at Old Trafford and­ why wouldn't he be? Everyone is making a big deal­ of these injuries but for me we have players coming­ back soon and don't need to panic. Utd for life.

    From shujaahmad2004, on Mon 17 Aug 5:14PM

  11. Ronaldo is the best striker in the world, and was­ considered cheap at 80 million. Vidic is the best­ defender in the world, and Sir Alex F should not sell­ him for anything less than 80 million pounds. Rio is­ unreliable, because of his back problem. Rio can be­ out for stretches of games at a time. If we don't­ have Vidic to cover during these lengthy absences, we­ are not going to win anything this year.

    From coolcucumber2, on Mon 17 Aug 5:07PM

  12. Thx Sean V, and I totally agree with you - Vidic is­ irreplaceable right now. He's a Brilliant player,­ the Rock of Uniteds defense. I too hope this is only a­ rumour.

    From Brendan C, on Mon 17 Aug 4:42PM

  13. very true brendan.. i hope this is just rumours...would­ hate to see him go...United are already going through a­ minor hiccup with the defenders injured ..but this­ would be by far even worse news... he is very­ irreplaceable!!

    From Sean V, on Mon 17 Aug 4:23PM

  14. If vidic goes we're doomed! The very thought of­­ being left with rio, going off to "rio" as­ he­ so often does in matches (know what I mean - him­ smokin­ the wacky-backy and all that) He's always­ losing­ concentration. Oh no, doesnt bare thinkin­ about......­ :-O

    From Brendan C, on Mon 17 Aug 3:53PM

  15. we have puyol pique marquez milito-3 world class­ defenders and one young he is shinning,why the hell we­ need vidic? pff

    From george_minkowski, on Mon 17 Aug 3:50PM

  16. vidic will never leave man utd he loves the club and he­ will stay loyal to it hes said it himself that hes not­ going to leave! its like they wanted jonny evans but i­ know for a fact jonny evans wont go!

    From Abbiee, on Mon 17 Aug 3:49PM

  17. nemanja vidic is priceless to united his a key player­ and if he went it would leave a massive gap in the­ defense

    From ellet, on Mon 17 Aug 3:47PM

  18. Ferguson Could sell Vidic but it would be a £50M pluss­ asking price,
    With that kind of money we could buy Ryan­ Schawcross and it would take our money from 78.5M to­ 138.5M at the least.
    However, Ferguson will not sell­ Vidic as he is a key element to the current United­ squad,
    Ferguson would persue someone like Lesscott or­ Yobo if Vidic left because these are not old but­ talented Defenders. Ferguson is loking for youth and­ looking for the future.

    From Ben, on Mon 17 Aug 3:40PM

  19. Connet number 2 - Pique for Vidic, are you on acid?

    From Withoutkillinanyone, on Mon 17 Aug 3:39PM

  20. Fergie wont sell Vidic unless he says he wants to­ leave, if he does then we should ask for Iniesta and­ twenty million pounds to test their resolve, Vidic is­ one of the best defenders in the world thats why they­ want him, no point in taking just money from them who­ would we replace him with.

    From zoey, on Mon 17 Aug 3:33PM
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