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Transfer Ticker: Mascherano wants Barca, Marseille lands Heinze and more

Javier Mascherano (ISIphotos.com)

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has become the latest superstar to want a move away from the Premiership in favor of La Liga.

On Thursday, Mascherano's brother Sebastian claimed that the Argentine midfielder desires to play with Barcelona, citing the idea of playing daily with compatriot Leo Messi is an appealing one.

Mascherano, who is reportedly fed up with life in England, has also made it no secret this summer that he would like to play for the European champions.

The Mascherano statement comes on the same day that fellow Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso requested a transfer request to join the revolution at Real Madrid.

Here are some more transfer stories to get you through the day:

Madrid deal Heinze to Marseille

Real Madrid has made a move, and they are surprisingly not overpaying for a player.

Madrid has off-loaded some of its surplus talent, agreeing to terms with Marseille for Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze. According to the Marseille's website, Heinze will undergo a medical before completing a three-year deal with the club.

Heinze joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2007, but failed to live up to high expectations. Heinze is being looked at by Marseille coach Didier Deschamps as a way to shore up Marseille's backline to challenge for the French league title this season.

Hleb loaned to Stuttgart, not Inter

Alexander Hleb won't be joining Inter MIlan after all.

Instead, the Barcelona midfielder will be joining VfB Stuttgart on a one-year loan. The Belarus international was expected to join Inter as part of the Ibrahimovic-Eto'o swap, but he snubbed a move to Serie A in favor of the German Bundesliga.

Hleb previously had a stint with Stuttgart, playing with the club from 2000-2005.

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What do you think of Mascherano possibly joining Barcelona? Think Heinze can resurrect his career in France? Would Hleb have been better off with Inter Milan?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Liverpool will not win the title now.

    Read a great new soccer comedy following the fortunes of Paul Marriott, the Secretary of the Barnstorm Village Sunday soccer team, and coach of a school cricket team in Yorkshire, England. The story describes the remarkable camaraderie between the players and supporters of this little club and their desire to achieve success. Nonetheless, the team is known more for its antics off the field, rather than their performances on it.

    During his time at the club he meets and becomes involved with Emma Potter, who is the sister of James Potter, a major player for their bitter rivals Moortown Inn. Thus, begins an entangled web of romance and conflict. He also begins working at Derry High School, a school with a poor reputation of academic success, where he becomes coach of the school cricket team. Here he develops an amazing relationship with the children and embarks on an epic journey.

    http://www.eloquentbooks.com/ClassesApart.html

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  2. Guess I missed the sarcasm on my comment above, and sucks to see Altidore not being issued a team number because he’s not with the first team.

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  3. Is Benitez going to hold onto anyone this summer? Seems like they all want to leave – Arsenal seems to be having the same problem as well.

    But who wouldn’t want to play with Messi? Is Messi a god or what? La Liga groupie here!

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  4. I’m depressed. We need to keep both Alonso and Mascherano. We don’t even need another goal scorer now that we have Voronin back. He can score or pretty much create a goal off the bench.

    Damn Rafa why.

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  5. It isn’t the nice teams, climate, or cities. It’s about money and not paying half of you salary in Spain to taxes.

    Either way, I have always found La Liga much more exciting to watch than the EPL. Donovan would be great on a Spanish team.

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  6. Mascherano is the best holding midfielder in the world, bar none. Yes, he is better than Pirlo or Gago or Cambiasso or whoever else you throw in there.

    And he’s one of the lowest paid members of the first team.

    Makes sense? Nope.

    Liverpool should do everything in their power to keep both Alonso and Mascherano. You can’t replace those players, just like you can’t replace Gerrard and Torres.

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  7. Mascherano isn’t going anywhere, Barca’s initial offer was an insult (barely more than what Liverpool paid to buy him from MSI). Unless they substantially increase their offer, he isn’t going anywhere…

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  8. not that bold of a prediction there dc josh…anyone other than barca and real madrid in the final will be a surprise…hopefully real and barca continue to unload players to make room for all the signings…their benches could put together mid table teams easily

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  9. It makes me wonder how the midfield and forwards will be set up for Madrid. If this is truly going to be the new Galacticos they need someone like Makelele who Zidane has admitted was the engine that made that team go. One of the Diarra’s could be that guy who stays home to cover for the 18 guys they’ll have going forward and not playing much defense and also covering for their poor defenders. My hope is on a Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso pairing with Ronaldo out left, Kaka as the attacking mid, Benzema and whoever is left over from the Dutch contingent filling out the other forward and right mid. I have a feeling that they’ll be trying to play an all out attacking formation and style with a 3-5-2

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  10. well if mascherano and alonso leave, Liverpool go from having the best midfield in the Premier League to having almost no midfield. Stevie G will have to move back to the playmaking role, keeping him further away from goal.

    Barca and Madrid in the Champions League final. Calling it.

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  11. Seems that La Liga is all the rage now. Like Serie A in the 90’s. These players want to go play for good teams, in great cities, with nice weather and for big money. I really can’t blame them. Most footballers these days are mercenaries anyway.

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  12. I think everyone is aware of my rabid loyalty to Stuttgart :-). They are my team, yo! Thus, it pains me to see all the comments throughout the internet just ripping Hleb for the move. Lol at all those people…

    Anyways, in response to gmonsoon43, the Huntelaar deal is 100% done. Kaput. Stuttgart is now looking at Negrado from Real (and seems like the deal might have some promise) or Onyewu’s former teammates at Standard Liege: Jovanovic and Mbokani. Personally, any of those 3 forwards would be great scores for us as I don’t really trust the ability of Cacau and Marica to be every-day power forwards. Negrado would be a steal! Jovanovic would be a stud.

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  13. “Mascherano wants out of England? What’s not to love about a 50% tax rate, 75% chance of rain, and a population that is perpetually miserable?”

    Too funny…I had a sudden “BigSoccer” impulse to rep you…but glad we all outgrew THAT site 🙂

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  14. No words or quotes from the mouths of Alonso or Mascherano. I won’t believe the “rumors” of Alonso’s transfer request and Macherano’s desire to go to Barca until they say it.

    Until then, let the “silly season” continue.

    (There’s a reason it’s called the “silly season”…)

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  15. Mascha may just be using this as leverage for a new contract. He only makes 33k a week, which is pretty low for the Argentine captain.

    As a barca fan, I hope he moves…obviously

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  16. Mascherano wants out of England? What’s not to love about a 50% tax rate, 75% chance of rain, and a population that is perpetually miserable?

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  17. So with Hleb going to Stuttgart, does that now rule out any possibility of DaMarcus Beasley heading there?

    Posted by: Rossi is Judas | July 30, 2009 at 04:13 PM

    As a USMNT and Stuttgart fan, this is the first I had heard of Beasley making that move.

    It is OUTSTANDING news we picked up Hleb(now if Stuttgart can just get him to stay). Hopefully we can still make another attempt to get Huntelaar to replace Gomez.

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  18. Not all is well in Liverpool. What gives? Re Mascherano, is it really living in the UK or is it Rafa and team? I thought one of the reasons Tevez wanted to stay local was that he lives next door to Javier.

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  19. As a Liverpool fan, this pains me. If Liverpool loses one, never mind both, they have no chance in the league this year. Mascherano does all the dirty work, and Alonso is versatile enough to play anywhere in midfield. Gerrard and Torres get all the headlines (deservedly so), but Alonso and Mascherano are equally important in their own right.

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