Javier Mascherano will leave Barcelona after seven and a half seasons at Camp Nou, the Catalan club have confirmed.
Argentina international Mascherano is expected to continue his career with a reported €10million switch to Hebei China Fortune ahead of the 2018 Chinese Super League season.
The 33-year-old will be granted an institutional farewell by Barca on Wednesday, with president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the first-team squad to be in attendance.
Mascherano has seen his game time severely restricted since Ernesto Valverde s appointment, making just 12 appearances in all competitions as he sits behind Gerard Pique, Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti in the pecking order at centre-back.
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Diogo Jota has become the latest Liverpool forward to sign a new long-term contract at Anfield.
The Reds headed into the close-season with their superstar front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino entering the final 12 months of their respective deals.
Salah agreed new terms, while Mane left for Bayern Munich. Firmino has made clear his desire to stay but is yet to put pen to paper.
Now, in the week before the start of the new Premier League season, Jota has ensured he will remain a key part of this Liverpool team.
The Portugal international signed from Wolves in September 2020 and quickly established himself ahead of Firmino in the pecking order, although Mane often played through the centre last season.
This term, Jota will ha…
Former Inter president Massimo Moratti compared supporting the club to loving a beautiful woman who is difficult to deal with and spoilt .
Moratti was president of Inter from 1995 until 2004 before returning to the role again in 2006 until 2013 – the Italian side winning five Serie A titles during his second spell.
Inter also won the Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia treble under Jose Mourinho in 2010, however, the Nerazzurri have not tasted silverware since Moratti relinquished control to Erick Thohir and the Suning Group.
Inter is like loving a beautiful woman who is difficult to deal with a spoilt, all things that are tough to put up with, Moratti told RMC Sport.
Being a president has always been a role of great responsibility and I felt t…
Atletico Madrid edged through to the semi-finals of the Europa League despite a 1-0 defeat away to Sporting CP.
A 2-0 lead from the first leg in the Spanish capital a week ago put Diego Simeone s men in a strong position ahead of the return match at a wet Estadio Jose Alvalade on Thursday.
But on a week that Barcelona and Real Madrid were on the end of staggering Champions League comebacks, Atletico champions in 2010 and 2012 failed to heed those twin warnings and were fortunate to progress with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Jan Oblak made a world-class save to keep out a Sebastian Coates header but a rare mistake from the Slovenia goalkeeper allowed Sporting back into the quarter-final.
The goalkeeper could only tip a Bruno Fernandes cross back into the dange…
Former Middlesbrough midfielder Gaizka Mendieta has credited manager and countryman Aitor Karanka for ending the club s seven-year exile from the Premier League.
For the first time since 2008-09, Middlesbrough are back in England s top flight after Karanka and Co. finished second in the Championship last season.
After losing a heartbreaking play-off to Norwich City in 2014-15, there were fears Middlesbrough s promotion chances might have faded but 12 months on – and with Karanka at the helm – they were not to be denied a runners-up finish behind Burnley.
A former pupil of Jose Mourinho s at Real Madrid, Karanka has played a key role at the Riverside Stadium since arriving in 2013 and Mendieta – who spent five years at Middlesbrough winning the 2004 League C…