Barcelona preparing new bid

BARCELONA WERE last night preparing a renewed bid for Javier Mascherano after the coach Pep Guardiola admitted he wanted to sign a defensive midfielder. The comment comes in light of Mascherano’s refusal to play for Liverpool at Manchester City on Monday evening.

Barcelona’s initial bid of €15 million with €5 million more in add-ons was rejected by Liverpool. The Anfield club are understood to be holding out for a fee closer to €26 million. That is a valuation Barcelona are reluctant to match but they remain hopeful of concluding a deal by offering players in return, and because of the determination of Mascherano to leave.

Although Guardiola refused to name the Argentinian directly, he did admit: “If a defensive midfielder arrives the needs of the team will be resolved. I will only speak about [Mascherano] when he’s here, if he comes.”

Barcelona believe that is likely despite the fact they are not in the best of financial health. The signing of David Villa for €40 million was carried out by the former president Joan Laporta, amid criticism from the new president Sandro Rosell at what he described as the club’s “stratospheric” debt – which he calculated at more than €400 million.

Rosell’s first act when he was elected in July was to seek a bank loan for €150 million to cover players’ salaries. He also admitted defeat in the pursuit of Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, unable to offer a fee much in excess of €40 million, and forced through the sale of Dimitro Chygrynskiy.

Barcelona are prepared to offer Liverpool Alexander Hleb and Martin Caceres in part exchange, to increase the bid beyond the current €20 million. Pressure is building on the new president and sporting director from Guardiola to get the deal done. Politically, they cannot be seen to have failed to provide reinforcements.

Barcelona also believe they have a huge advantage because of Mascherano’s willingness to fight for a move. Their hand is stronger, certainly, than during the attempts to sign Fabregas. Barcelona did not count on such stubborn resistance from Arsene Wenger and although Fabregas told the Arsenal manager that he wanted to leave, he was unprepared to publicly rebel.

Mascherano has asked not to play for Liverpool, while his agent has openly spoken about his desire to depart England for Spain. Barcelona may have one problem, though, with sources suggesting a late bid from Internazionale should not be ruled out.

Meanwhile, the deal-broker, Keith Harris, has claimed an overseas buyer is considering making an offer of between €488 million and €610 million for Liverpool.

The former Football League chairman, who has had a hand in the sales of Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City in the past, said due diligence has already been done. Harris, the chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce, also said the party he was representing was not one mentioned publicly before.

“The overseas buyer we represent has completed due diligence. A huge amount of work has been done,” he said. “It is none of the groups mentioned in the press. The ball is now in our client’s court to make an offer. I do not think the deal will be done before the transfer window closes this month but the next pressure point is October when some of the RBS loan of £237 million (€289m) has to be repaid. It may happen then. But in the present climate these things are impossible to predict.”

A Liverpool spokesman declined to confirm or deny whether Harris had been supplied with financial information so that due diligence could be carried out.

Last week Hong Kong-based businessman Kenny Huang pulled out of the bidding process, while Syrian-Canadian Yahya Kirdi’s much-publicised interest has been treated with scepticism.

Harris said history has taught him that those who went public before an agreement had been reached rarely succeeded.

“The Chinese government involvement was always a bit far-fetched,” he said. “In any takeover situation, when people resort to announcing it to the media, you have to question the seriousness of the offer.”

Harris worked on a bid for Liverpool two years ago for Kuwaiti Nasser Al Khorafi, whom it is claimed agreed a deal for €366 million up front and another €122 million based on financial performance only to pull out at the last minute. Guardian Service