FC Barcelona News: 5 September 2019

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International action commences | FC Barcelona
After three weeks of La Liga action comes the first international break of the season, and with that comes the latest set of Euro 2020 qualifiers, plus some friendlies.

Valverde gives Barcelona players four days off | Marca
Ernesto Valverde will give four days of rest to those members of his Barcelona squad that aren’t on international duty this week. The squad trained this morning but won’t be back in again until Monday afternoon.

‘Half of Barcelona fans wouldn’t want Neymar back’ – Del Bosque would have shunned signing | Goal
Barcelona may have wanted Neymar back over the summer, but Vicente del Bosque claims half of their fan base would have opposed a deal and says he would never have considered re-signing the Brazilian. Those at Camp Nou spent much of the last transfer window endeavouring to put an agreement in place for a familiar face.

‘I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe’ - Fabregas thinks finding another Messi is impossible | Goal
Cesc Fabregas believes it’s impossible that another player like Lionel Messi will emerge in the future. The two former Barcelona teammates spent three seasons together at Camp Nou with Messi winning two Ballon d’Ors during that time.

The reason why Dembele turned down PSG | Marca
It looks unlikely that Dembele will be given a consistent starting place under Ernesto Valverde, following the arrival of Antoine Griezmann. ”I don’t care who comes in, competition doesn’t scare me; I will fight to succeed here,” Dembele told L’Equipe.

Juventus wait in the wings as Ivan Rakitić wants out of his Barcelona escape room | Football Espana
Juventus had an agreement in place with Ivan Rakitić and will return for him in January, according to AS. The Croatian midfielder, completely overlooked by coach Ernesto Valverde since the season began, is still being tracked by Italian Serie A Champions Juventus.

Barcelona still await out-and-out number nine | Football Espana
Barcelona still await a classic number nine striker despite having all summer to find one, say AS. Despite spending a small fortune on talent such as Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona still couldn’t find a classic number nine to liften the burden off Luis Suárez and to aid their ageing forward line - something AS elude to in their recent report.

Carles Alena loses his grip on first-team place | Marca
Carles Alena made his senior debut for Barcelona under Luis Enrique during pre-season in 2016, but his real first-team breakthrough came last season. The midfielder played 27 times, despite sitting out much of last year’s pre-season with a thigh injury.

Barcelona explain why they have not yet paid WBA for Louie Barry | Sport
Sources at Barça have confirmed they have not settled their financial debt with the English side. However, they say that development rights don’t have to be paid until they have received the relevant report from FIFA’s committee for the protection of minors.

Source: barcablaugranes.com