New coach of Fc Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, was officially presented today and has announced his plans for next season. The coach has stated that he is not counting on Ronaldinho, Deco or Eto'o, come next season and that these three players have their own futures in their hands. However he said that if Ronaldinho wanted to continue at the club he could do so and earn his place.
I can understand Pep's comments, apparently the relationship with these players and the club has deteriorated and he cannot really count on these players, who seem to have lost motivation to play for the club. I understand that he has to move on and build a strong side, one which does not include Ronaldino, Deco and Eto'o because these players' names are constantly in the transfer market and who knows what decision they will make.
Of the three, the player most likely to leave is Deco, he has been linked with Chelsea and Inter, but he has stated that nothing will be decided until he has finished with his international duties with Portugal. Ronaldinho too like Deco has been linked with Chelsea and has been urged by his teammate to join him at Chelsea should he join the Blues this summer. Eto'o on the other hand has expressed that Barca is his first choice but if he's not wanted he would move on. Despite Pep stating that he's not counting on Eto'o, I find it hard to believe that statement, primarily because of the high price tag Barca has placed on the striker. My view is, if you really want a player to go, you would do everything necessary to make it happen and lowering the transfer price would be a good start.
Pep has implied that he already has replacements lined up for the trio by stating that he and Barca know who they want. Recent news in the transfer market has stated that Barca are still keen on signing Emanuel Adebayor and Aleksandr Hleb from Arsenal, and time will tell if they get their targets. Clearly I can see why they would want to buy these players because to me Arsenal's style of play is quite similar to that of Barca's, but Barca just does it better in my opinion.
With all this said, Pep has stated that he is ready for the challenge ahead and that if he wasn't ready he wouldn't take up the job. I'm glad to hear his comments, I'm just hoping and praying that at least one of the three mentioned, stay at the club. I'm thrilled that he's ready for the challenge and I hope he doesn't disappoint. FORCA BARCA!!!
