Van Der Vaart To Replace Ronaldinho At Barça
Barcelona have held preliminary talks with Rafael Van der Vaart's agent as they hope to sign the Holland international when Ronaldinho's move to AC Milan is finally made official.
The Blaugrana have asked the Rossoneri not to make any statement regarding the move for the Brazilian until after the Catalan outfit have played their final Champions League game of the season.
If Frank Rijkaard's team are eliminated by Manchester United at the semi final stage then Milan will be given the green light to announce Ronaldinho's imminent arrival, but if Barça progress they will be asked to wait until after the final.
With Ronaldinho set to sign a five-year deal at the San Siro that will see his wages rise from the €8m-per-year he earned at Barcelona to €12m-a-year, the Blaugrana will have more finances to play with.
Having been linked to several players in recent weeks to play down the left, Txiki Begiristain and Rijkaard are already talking to Van der Vaart agent, Bayram Tutumlu, about the player's interest in a move to the club.
The Hamburg star has Spanish heritage and has often been linked with a move to Real Madrid, but their interest cooled last summer and now Barça are set to offer him the chance to shine in la Primera.
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Anderson On Barça, Iniesta And FergusonAnderson believes that Manchester United's Champions League tie against Barcelona is the biggest game of his life and he is relishing playing against his favourite Blaugrana player, Andrés Iniesta.
The 20-year-old Brazilian cannot wait to play against the Catalan giants as he thinks that the two matches will be like mini-finals between the two clubs with the most impressive statistics in the tournament his term.
Having joined Manchester United last summer, Anderson is enjoying a very successful first term at Old Trafford and the matches against Barça are just another step in the steep learning curve he has gone through at the Premier League outfit.
"This is like a final for me. Playing against Barcelona is the most important game of my life and I think it is like the final of the Champions League. In fact, I think it is a sort of final as we are the two teams with the best record in this season's competition," he told Sport.
Barcelona may have some players missing or still recovering from injuries, but Anderson thinks that Frank Rijkaard's squad has enough talent for that not to matter.
"Ronaldinho will not play and Lionel Messi is not at his best, but Barcelona have an excellent squad. I like Iniesta a lot, he is my favourite Barcelona player. Then there is Xavi, Deco, (Samuel) Eto'o and (Thierry) Henry. They do have a great team," he continued.
Anderson has been compared to Ronaldinho as the pair both come from Porto Alegre and began their careers with Gremio.
"For me he will always be a true great, but you cannot compare him with me. He has done everything in football and I have done almost nothing. I am just starting. I am just proud that people see similar things in us," he explained.
After spending two years in Portugal with Porto, the Brazilian international moved to Manchester United and admits that it would have been a lot more difficult without all the support he has received. "I joined Manchester United straight after playing in the Copa América with Brazil and the contrast was difficult to handle, but that is normal," he stated.
"It was the same when I went to Porto. Cristiano Ronaldo has helped me a lot to adapt and other players, and Evra, Carrick, Brown and Piqué have all made life easier. We have a great squad. One difference is that you work a lot more here. I have never worked so hard before as the training sessions are very tough and you have to think about football 24 hours a day."
Finally, Anderson heaped praise on boss Sir Alex Ferguson. "For me he is the best, a special person. From time-to-time he can appear to be distant, but he knows everything about the team and he really likes to work with the youngsters. Look at what he did with David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and now Cristiano Ronaldo. It is a real honour work with a coach like him," he concluded.
This post has been edited by ucha_SH on 19 Apr 2008, 00:47
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Football Club Barcelona, Mes Que Un Club!
