Manchester United are set for a busy end to the January transfer window, with Marcus Rashford expected to leave Old Trafford after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim

Joan Laporta says enemies hoped to ‘destabilise’ the clubPresident defends ‘contained euphoria’ before Super Cup Joan Laporta denounced an attack on Barcelona “by land, air and sea” and insisted there was no reason why he should resign as he spoke publicly for the first time since the club were allowed to register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor in defiance of the ruling by La Liga and the country’s football federation. The Barcelona president claimed the club had correctly presented “all” the documentation needed to register Olmo and Víctor by the 31 December deadline but admitted they had not been able to provide the proof of income to comply with financial controls until 3 January. He alleged that was through no fault of their own and that the league made unexpected and unnecessary demands of Barcelona, hinting that the federation (RFEF) had said the registration should have been completed. Continue reading...

Marcus Rashford is edging closer to leaving Manchester United in the January transfer window, with AC Milan, Barcelona and Napoli keen to sign the England striker

Today’s fluff is counting no chickens Financial protocols be damned, Spain’s big two are on manoeuvres again, with Barcelona linked with Marcus Rashford and reports that Real Madrid are prepared to pay above the asking price for Tottenham’s Archie Gray. Big Ange Postecoglou’s side may have underachieved this season but the teenager’s mature performances have caught the eye of the European champions. The Spanish outlet Fichajes says Madrid are prepared to offer €50m (£42m) for the 18-year-old talent. Meanwhile their rivals Barça are evidently prepared to pull various of their many financial levers to move for Rashford, according to sources in Spain, who say Barça’s sporting director, Deco, has been in touch with the Manchester United forward’s representatives. West Ham have also been linked with Rashford – as have Milan, Borussia Dortmund, the world and their spouse, to be honest – but may find the wage costs prohibitive. Continue reading...

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick hopes to sign Manchester United want-away Marcus Rashford, who wants his future decided soon amid ongoing talks over a move to AC Milan

Marcus Rashford is angling for a move away from Manchester United with Barcelona and AC Milan among the parties interested in securing a loan deal for the wantaway forward

Marcus Rashford's move from Manchester United to AC Milan is now more complicated because of Kyle Walker and Arsenal have joined the race to sign Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo

Arsenal are yet to add a new face to their squad in the January transfer window but with the window now two weeks old, that could all be about to change with the Gunners chasing a Barcelona defender

The Frenchman was the only one to shine among the four magnificent players in the tough defeat against Barca and confirms that he is back  Leer

Super Cup victory in Saudi Arabia helps club and president as they try and push the player registration saga aside Joan Laporta arrived at the King Abdullah stadium in Jeddah performing an up-yours and shouting at the “shameless sons of bitches” there, and left again three nights later with the Spanish Super Cup. These had been some weeks and this was some way to end them, only this never truly ends. Debated in parliament, a question of state occupying everyone, Barcelona’s president could not escape the spotlight; now, late on Sunday, 12 days into the new year and 12 days on from that deadline, nor did he want to. So on the pitch, surrounded by confetti, cameras right in front of him and players right behind – Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor included – he stepped centre-stage again, this time taking the trophy, all triumphant. At the end of the Super Cup, the Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez had whispered to Luka Modric “we had to lose a final some time, no?” and the Croatian agreed. “If we have to choose, I prefer it to be this one,” he told the television cameras. Which, while true, didn’t feel like much of a consolation right then – and not just because it doesn’t work like that, the nature of defeat suggesting others are more likely to follow, not less – and didn’t do much to diminish its significance for their rivals, which was not just the fact that they had won a title, the first under Hansi Flick, but the way they won it. When they had won it too, a sense of liberation in victory. For Laporta and Olmo, particularly. Continue reading...

Manchester United are said to be in talks over sealing Marcus Rashford's exit with AC Milan and Barcelona among the candidates to complete a deal for the England international

Gerard Pique watched his beloved Barcelona thrash arch rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final, with Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde all scoring

Today’s fluff twanged a muscle pulling on a spiderman suit Despite Khvicha Kvaratskhelia being a cult hero at Napoli, who are four points clear at the top of Serie A under Antonio Conte, the Georgian wants out. PSG remain favourites to sign Kvaratskhelia, while Napoli may instead target Alejandro Garnacho, although the 20-year-old did start Manchester United’s FA Cup win over Arsenal on Sunday. Suddenly a £42m move to Italy does not look so likely, despite Argentinians famously doing rather well in Naples. After all that fuss over Dani Olmo’s registration, or the lack of it, Barcelona were able to get the midfielder back on the books before the club’s victorious clásico Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday, after which the Spaniard kissed the badge and gestured to the celebrating fans that he was staying. However, one person that could leave the Catalan club in January is Ronald Araújo, with the centre-back linked with Juventus. Continue reading...

Spanish Super Cup final: Barcelona 5-2 Real MadridBarça shrug off Szczesny red card after first-half blitz “I don’t know what’s going on with the clásicos but they have been a bit mad recently,” Carlo Ancelotti had said and here was another one. There had been 35 goals in the last ten meetings between these two great rivals and there were seven more in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. The only pity was that it happened in the wrong place. FC Barcelona had put four past Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in October; now they went one better on their way to an extraordinary 5-2 victory, 5,000km away in Jeddah, a night when they played with two goalkeepers ending with a third, the injured captain Marc Andre ter Stegen, lifting the trophy. Barcelona had finished a man down and started a goal down, Wojciech Szczęsny beaten early and sent off later, but ultimately it didn’t matter. Hansi Flick’s side were just too good. Exceptional in fact, Raphinha tireless until he was withdrawn, cramp clawing at his calf, Lamine Yamal for ever sending opponents the wrong way, and Pedri gliding across another stage. For an hour they dominated and then, for half an hour, once Szczęsny had been shown a red card, they controlled with a coolness that made light of how long was left and the history and talent of team before them. Continue reading...