Barça closes the signing of Mathieu

According to the newspaper 'As', FC Barcelona have completed the signing of Jérémy Mathieu for 20 million euros. The agreement was practically closed yesterday as Mundo Deportivo reports.

The French player of Valencia was a top priority of the Catalan club to strengthen its defense. The transaction was closed on 20 million euros, exactly what the club 'che' had demanded from the outset. The only controversy lay in the method of payment. While the club proposed to do it in four installments Valencia in Mestalla require the disbursement of 20 'kilos' is cash. In the end, both clubs have reached an agreement in this regard.

The curious case that the player has embarked Valencia this morning with the rest of his teammates headed to Madrid, heading to Peru, but the player is stuck in Madrid and has not taken the flight to Lima to be formalized recruitment for the club.

23 players on the pitch once again

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  Once again, 23 players trained at the Ciutat Esportiva

PHOTO GALLERIES

• Training session at morning 17/07/2014

The first team trained this morning in what will be the only session of the day. Luis Enrique worked with the same set of players as on Wednesday evening, namely eight from the first team (Ter Stegen, Masip, Montoya, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Deulofeu, Afellay and Bojan) and 15 from the reserves (Patric, Bagnack, Edgar Ié, Lucas, Diagne, Grimaldo, Samper, Halilovic, Babunski, Munir, Sandro, Dani Nieto, Joan Román, Dongou and Adama).

Adriano Correia was absent after it was announced yesterday that an abnormal heart rhythm was detected in his medical on Monday, and Rafa Alcántara is also side-lined with a bruised big toe. Luis Enrique continued using work with the ball as one of the main elements of his training schedule.

Cristian Tello, who started the week training with the first team, has now left to go on loan to Porto for two seasons.

Rafinha to undergo treatment on bruised toe

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  Rafinha returned to training on Monday / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB

The player's presence in training this week will depend on how things develop

Rafinha Alcántara has bruising on his left big toe and will require special treatment over the next few days. As announced by the Medical Services, his presence at training this week depends on how things develop.

Rafinha has been training with the first team since Monday after spending last season on loan to Celta Vigo, where he worked under the current FC Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique.

Pročitajte izjavu Claudia Brava za Barca TV

Bravo: "Zahvaljujem se Barçi što je vjerovala u mene. Ponosan sam, jer mi se pružila odlična prilika. Motivisan sam što ću braniti boje Kluba. Mislim da ću se dobro uklopiti, jer na sličan način igra moja reprezentacija. U Čileu nisam bio samo golman, već i štoper. Alexis mi je rekao kako funkcionišu stvari u FC Barceloni, te da trebam uživati u ovom trenutku."

Blaugrana je za Brava platila 12 miliona eura, a otkupna klauzula u njegovom ugovoru iznosi 40 miliona eura.

Infographic: FC Barcelona World Cup Factfile

Everything you need to know about FC Barcelona and the World Cup: matches, venues, times and stats from previous editions... 

Del Bosque names seven Barça players for Brazil

Jordi Alba, Piqué, Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, Sergio Busquets and Pedro are included in Spain's 23 man squad to defend their World Cup title in Brazil

FC Barcelona are again the team providing most players for Spain’s World Cup squad, with seven players named in Del Bosque’s final group of 23 to travel to Brazil announced this lunchtime. Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Pedro Rodríguez, Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba all made the cut from the original 30-man provisional list

After being called up for the friendly game against Bolivia on Friday night, Gerard Deulofeu was the only Barça man not to make the final 23, although he will certainly be in Del Bosque’s mind should he need to call on any late replacements in the case of an injury to any of his players.

Alongside the seven Barça players, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Reina, De Gea, Albiol, Javi Martínez, Azpilicueta, Juanfran, Koke, Cazorla, Mata, Silva, Torres, Villa and Diego Costa make up the rest of the squad, who travel to the USA on Monday to prepare their second pre-tournament friendly against El Salvador.

Guardiola: “The profound sorrow I have will accompany me for the rest of my life”

FC Barcelona's former manager and current coach of Bayern Munich expresses his deep sorrow for the loss of his friend, Tito Vilanova

After Bayern Munich’s victory over Weder Bremen (5-2), Pep Guardiola held a press conference in which he remembered his friend Tito Vilanova: “I want to express my condolences on behalf of my family to his father, Joaquín, his mother, María Rosa, to Montse, his wife, and to his children, Carlota and Adrià.”

Guardiola, who had Vilanova as his assistant for five years at FC Barcelona (one year with the reserve team and four with the first team), talked about his long relationship with the late manager that started when they were both children at La Masia: “We were very young, we wanted to conquer the world and that’s what we did. The profound sadness that I have will accompany for the rest of my life, forever.”

Bayern mourn the loss of Vilanova

Many clubs and personalities from the world of sport have expressed their sorrow for the death of the ex Barça manager. One of the clubs to offer up their condolences is Bayern Munich. The German club posted a message, in Catalan and German, on their website penned by director general, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “Bayern Munich received the news of Tito Vilanova’s death with dismay and deep sorrow. We had the opportunity to know FC Barcelona’s ex manager during Barça’s visit to Munich last year, we knew him and we we appreciated him as a great manager and a marvelous human being. Tito Vilanova was especially close to Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff.” The players of the German team played their match this weekend with a black armband, and before kick off a minute of silence was observed.