Big cleanup at Barca

Juan Laporte, Barcelona’s president, stated that Frank Rijkaard will stay for another season. “Frank is very motivated, he told me. As far as he is concerned the next season can start tomorrow.” Frank will stay and so will Eto’o and Ronaldinho. And Messi. But seven players or more will be told to pack their bags. And not the shabbiest ones… Saviola, Giuly, Gudjohnson, Silvinho, Belleti, Edmilson and Motta (a potential signing for Ajax).

Furthermore, Barca wants a new leftback to put some pressure on Gio. A central defender (Chivu was mentioned but he signed for Inter Milan today), two midfielders (Van der Vaart???) and two strikers. Thierry Henry, Eric Abidal (Lyon) and Toure (Monaco) are names often heard in Catalunia.

Laporte went on to say that certain players went too far this season in their nightly behaviour. He didn’t name names, but everybody knows Ronaldinho, Deco and Motta are players who were frequently spotted in the Barcelona nightlife. “We trusted that the players were capable of managing themselves, and when we found out what was going on, it was too late….”

Ronaldinho and Eto’o - the latter called Rijkaard “a bad person” this season - are allowed to stay, but “the internal code of conduct will be stricter and we will see to it that players live by the code….”

Cool….