Much like in baseball where there are all kinds of wheelings and dealings right around the end of the trade dead line, it is always fascinating to see whose coming and going at the end of the transfer market.At the moment there seems to be all kinds of deals in the works, and topping the group for my money is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"The magnificent nose" as he is nick-named seems to be surely on his way out of Barcelona after a somewhat up and down first campaign at the Nou Camp. I was surprised to learn that Ibra is only 28 and also that he scored 23 goals in La Liga as well as nine more in the Champions League, he just never really seemed to fit with that team last year and was very much overshadowed by Lionel Messi's incredible goal scoring exploits.
I have said it before, I think Ibrahimovic is a good player, just not a great one. He seems to be able to pick off lesser defenders fairly easily, but when it comes to the biggest games he too often disappears, and I think that was one of his biggest problems at Barcelona.
Not only did I think Barcelona vastly overpay for the Swedish international by giving up €46 million and striker Samuel Eto'o, I just didn't think he was the right fit for that team. Barcelona needs a central forward that wants to look for his own shot, a poacher, and a finisher - Ibra likes to set up as much as he likes to finish, which is not a knock on him, but Barcelona has plenty of playmakers already.
In contrast David Villa I think is the perfect player for Barcelona, which is one reason if I was making a wager right now I would pick Barcelona to win the Champions League.
Anyway to get back to business, Ibrahimovic is practically demanding a transfer to either AC Milan, Real Madrid or Manchester City. He apparently had a bust-up with Barca boss Pep Guardiola, which has made matters worse, and the most likely destination appears to be Milan because obviously Barca would not sell to bitter rivals Madrid and Ibra had his best years in Italy. However, don't rule out Manchester City yet, they have the deepest pockets in football right now Jose Mourinho stated yesterday.
Javier Mascherano is another player that wants out of his current club Liverpool and has essentially gone on strike to force a move from Anfield. Liverpool have set a price of £25 million for Mascherano, which no one appears ready to offer.
Barcelona are the team making the public push for Argentina captain, but so far have only offered £18 million along with Alexander Hleb. However, Liverpool appear to want only money for the defensive central midfielder.
It's interesting to me that Barcelona are making such a strong push for Mascherano. They must feel like they want a replacement for Yaya Toure, whom they sold to Manchester City earlier this summer. I've always thought Mascherano to be a little over-rated as well, but he certainly had an excellent World Cup.
Another misfit, Robinho, has wanted out of Manchester City for quite some time and has made himself quite clear first forcing the club to allow him to move back down to Santos on loan to end last season then demanding he be sold when City would not accept another loan from the Brazilian team.
To me Robinho's story is quite hilarious. The rumor goes that when he wanted to leave Real Madrid the team went to the Brazilian and told him Manchester City were interested in buying. Not paying any attention, Robinho thought Real Madrid meant the other team from Manchester as in Manchester United and accepted the move only to find out he would be dressing up in light blue instead red.
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