 After all the spending, bickering, name-calling and posturing, Barça have got David Villa ? and offloaded Zlatan IbrahimovicThe first day of a brand new season and the excitement is growing. So too is the crowd ? hotter, sweatier and more expectant by the minute. There are cameras everywhere. TV...
After all the spending, bickering, name-calling and posturing, Barça have got David Villa ? and offloaded Zlatan Ibrahimovic The first day of a brand new season and the excitement is growing. So too is the crowd ? hotter, sweatier and more expectant by the minute. There are cameras everywhere. TV crews are providing breathless updates, radios and websites live commentary. Refresh, refresh, refresh. No one wants to miss a second. Deep down they think they know what's going to happen in the end but still they're desperate to see how this one plays out. No, not at the Rico Pérez, the Rosaleda or the Ciutat de Valencia. Like Nelson, even the commentary teams at those stadiums, the stage of the opening three games of the 2010-11 campaign, have got an eye somewhere else. Like everyone else, they've got an eye on Carrer d'Aristides Maillol, Barcelona. They're holding out for a hero but it's not Hércules that Spain is waiting for, returning to the first division 13 years later and, somehow, not in the midst of a scandal ? and that's the biggest scandal of all. Or Málaga, where Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thami is the first Sheikh to buy a Spanish club and the first to sack his underachieving staff, director general Yasmin al-Sahoud getting the chop less than 12 hours after her team's opening-day defeat to Valencia. And it's certainly not Levante ? with depressing inevitability, their return to primera, which they departed two years ago amid threats, strikes, and broken promises, is played out about before empty stands. No. It's the Tall Man and the Fat Man. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mino Raiola. Zlatan and Raiola, his agent, have become the stars of the summer, after the Spain squad and José Mourinho. Comic book bad guys who have confronted the world, taking on FC Barcelona and the one person you're just not supposed to take on ? coach Pep Guardiola. The same Guardiola who Ibrahimovic said has "spoken to me only twice in six months", that Raiola attacked so bitterly Barcelona switched on Spain's default setting and announced legal action ? to which Raiola declared: "No one tells me to shut up ? except Zlatan." The same Guardiola that Raiola said, "should be in a mental hospital", "has a problem with himself", and would "leave the Camp Nou before Zlatan does". After all, he added: "It's simple maths: Zlatan has four years on his contract, Guardiola just one." He's about to be proven wrong. But although they're going to lose, by God, they're going to take them down with them. Although they're going to lose, although Guardiola is ultimately going to get his way, they're going to win too. Those who called Raiola an idiot, the world's worst agent, are as wrong as those who call Pedro López the world's worst serial killer. Look at it his way: he's the best. Yes, he's a clown and a big mouth, a walking parody, but he's a ludicrously rich one, feisty as hell and successful too. Ibrahimovic has now commanded ?140m in transfer fees. You've got to admire their balls. Just don't let them catch you doing it. It's hours now since Ibrahimovic strolled past and announced with a sarcastic grin "I'm here to renew my contract" and everyone's gathered by the back door to the Camp Nou offices, desperate for a glimpse of something, someone, behind those glass doors ? reporters with their fingers in their ears panting: "Yes, yes, a lady just came by with a bottle ? hang on, I think I saw a secretary carrying a stack of papers." And then at last, it happens. Beyond the glass, Zlatan strolls through the metal turnstile. Ahead of him Raiola, chunky, bruising; jeans, trainers, and a scraggy checked shirt, looking like he'd just arrived at the wheel of a lorry, and Milan's general manager Adriano Galliani. It's official at last: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is leaving. Milan will take him on loan; next season they will be obliged to sign him for ?24m. As for Ibrahimovic, he has taken a step back for the first time in his career and will also take a pay cut. But still, he has joined Milan on ?8m a year. "The 'philosopher' has kicked me out," spits Ibrahimovic as he strolls into the scrum. "I don't know what his problem with me was. Whenever I walked into a room he walked out again ? maybe he was scared of me." Scared? Who'd be scared of a 6ft 3in, 13st Swede with a deathly stare and a mean temper who Raiola says "could slap me into next week"? No, Guardiola wasn't scared of Ibrahimovic, he was sick of him. Disappointed by his contribution and his attitude. As one insider puts it: "Zlatan thinks he's Messi and he's not." For all that the coach was seduced by the idea of having a Plan B, it hadn't worked when they needed it most. When Barcelona made a final, hugely impressive push for the title, they did so without Ibrahimovic and with Bojan Krkic. The group mattered most so at the end of the campaign he insisted on Barcelona selling the Swede ? no matter what the cost. The cost was high. Some newspapers splashed their covers with a little round sticker like it was Tesco Value Thick Slice, declaring "double saving: Barcelona make ?24m and save ?60m in wages". Or screamed: "Good riddance Ibra". Others pointed out that Barça had lost ?40m on the deal.* They were right. Last season, Barcelona bought him for ?45m plus Eto'o, formally valued at ?20m. It looked like a ridiculous deal then: it looks like even more of a ridiculous deal now. It also underlines an uncomfortable truth: Guardiola wanted David Villa but ? for reasons of finance, football and 'feeling' ? he wanted shot of Eto'o more. It became an obsession. It was largely the fact that Inter would take him that forced their hand and finally ensured it would be Ibrahimovic that signed instead. Now, at last, Barcelona have the player they really want. But it has cost them ?40m to sign Villa ? the same price a year later. In the meantime, they have effectively paid ?20m to send two players to Milan. Embarrassingly, Eto'o went and immediately won a second successive treble; it would not be a huge surprise if Ibrahimovic is successful too: he has won seven successive league titles, after all. He hasn't been a failure at Barcelona. Not really. He got 21 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, scored the winner against Real Madrid, and averaged a goal every other game in the league. He even scored in the Champions League ? twice, against Arsenal. Only Gonzalo Higuaín was directly responsible for securing his side more points in La Liga. "You don't buy a Ferrari and just leave it in the garage," Raiola complained. You do if you've already got a Skoda. Or a Villa, a Messi, a Xavi or an Iniesta ? the man who, minding his own business on holiday, responded to intense media attention after scoring the winning goal in the World Cup by shrugging: "I don't mind the paparazzi following me about but having a go at my swimming trunks is a bit harsh." And that's the thing. When the dust finally settled, Barcelona went into the opening game of the season and destroyed Racing Santander with two wonderful finishes from Messi and Iniesta. There was also ? and you should get used to this phrase ? a goal from Villa. It may have been costly, painful and hugely embarrassing, it may still come back to bite them but now, at last, after all the bickering and the shouting and the name-calling; after the accusation and counter-accusation, the chest-puffing and posturing, Raiola has finally got what he wanted ? a huge great big lorry pulling into his drive loaded with cash ? but so have Barcelona. The harmony Guardiola demanded and the perfect addition to an already fantastic side, a striker who should have joined a really, really big club years ago. "This team is even better than last year," the Racing coach Miguel-Ángel Portugal sighed. That's not all they have got. For Barça, better yet was the news coming in from Palma. Last year Barça dropped just 15 points all season; they already have a two-point lead over Real Madrid after Mourinho's side could only draw 0-0 with Mallorca and have started off where they finished last season ? without The Tall Man and top of the table. "Zlatan was the centre of attention on Saturday," Guardiola said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd quite like my team to be." *See if you can guess which papers went for which reading. Talking points to follow ...Results Herculés 0-1 Athletic, Málaga 1?3 Valencia, Levante 1-4 Sevilla, Real Sociedad 1-0 Villarreal, Deportivo 0-0 Zaragoza, Osasuna 0-0 Almería, Racing 0-3 Barcelona, Mallorca 0-0 Real Madrid, Espanyol 3-1 Getafe, Atlético v Sporting, tonight. Latest La Liga table
Posted originally: 2010-08-30 11:23:41
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