Barça and Paris Saint-Germain have reached an agreement for the sale of Ferran Torres. The forward from Foios will change clubs this summer for a figure that will be around 50 million euros, according to confirmed Blaugrana sources. The agreement is total and will be official at the weekend, once all contracts have been drafted and signed. Thus, Ferran, who has already trained separately from his teammates these days, will be released from his obligations to the Blaugrana team and will take a plane to Paris in the coming hours to undergo a medical examination.

Barça continues negotiating with Manchester City for the arrival of Rodri Hernández. With the terms agreed with the Madrid midfielder for four seasons, an agreement with the English club is still pending. After an initial offer of 50 million in fixed and variable amounts was rejected, as ARA has learned, the new Blaugrana bid now amounts to a maximum of 65 million, distributed as 55 million fixed, 5 million variable – easily achievable – in the form of matches played, and 5 that will depend on how many titles Rodri wins as a Barça player. In effect, then, the guaranteed amount would rise to 60 million. The talks between the parties are led by Alejandro Echevarría and Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco, from Barça and Ferran Soriano and Hugo Viana from City. There is optimism to close the operation before the end of the week, although Rodri is injured in the back and would not debut in the short term with his new team. In any case, the player is scheduled to report this Friday to begin pre-season training under Enzo Maresca, the new citizen coach.

Andreas Christensen's time at Barça continuing after two very discreet last seasons is thanks to Hansi Flick. Although since the German's arrival the centre-back has suffered a string of injuries and has only participated in 24 matches (of which he has only started six), the Barça coach trusts in recovering a defender whose quality no one doubts.

A decisive week begins for the composition of the Barça 2026/2027 squad. Many open folders on the desk of the Barcelona sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco. Among all of them, two stand out in the form of arrivals, Rodri Hernández and Julián Álvarez. If the signing of the Madrid midfielder, made in a lightning move by Real Madrid, is awaiting an agreement with Manchester City, which understands the player's desire to leave, the operation to recruit the Atlético de Madrid forward is much greener (not to say almost impossible). Barça has already verbally agreed the terms of a five-season contract with Julián, but has repeatedly encountered the mattress club's refusal to sell him. "We will not accept 100, nor 150, nor 200 million for him," sentenced the club's CEO, Miguel Ángel Gil, a few weeks ago.

In the first edition of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup, held at the Bluenery Friuli Stadium in Udine (Italy), Barça participated in a football triangular for the first time in 24 years. The Blaugrana defeated Nottingham Forest (1-0), who finished sixteenth in the Premier League last season - and who this season have lost their best player: Elliot Anderson, for whom Manchester City paid 135 million euros - but lost to the hosts, Udinese (1-0). The Italians won both their matches, as before facing Barça they had already beaten the English by the same score (1-0).

A goal in extra time of a World Cup final. The winning goal. A goal and a title that is about to change Ferran Torres' history. Surely without this goal, the footballer would have had a less eventful summer and who knows if with fewer suitors. But the fact is that the player from Foios has become one of the most popular players in the Spanish national team and, also, a strong candidate to leave Barça. So much so that the interest of Paris Saint-Germain has grown in recent weeks to become a priority objective. For the moment, nothing is done, but the probabilities that the forward, who is still on vacation, will not set foot in the blaugrana Sports City again are increasingly high.

Everyone thought that Julián Álvarez was the main reason for the trip to Madrid of Barça's sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco. The Argentine forward has been the clear objective of the Barcelona club for months to strengthen the attack and fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski. Despite Atlético de Madrid's extremely tough reluctance to sell him, it made sense for it to be staged on the field that the interest remains alive. But Deco's trip to the Spanish capital hid another surprising and forceful move: snatch Rodrigo Hernández,Rodri.

We are about to open the cookie jar and have Ferran Torres appear, talking to us about his navel. Never before had a goal in a World Cup final been managed with such arrogance. The celebration was already a declaration of intent: instead of making an unforgettable dedication like Andrés Iniesta's in 2010, he showed off his bitterness by remembering the haters. What a shame. Football-wise there would never be any possible discussion, but it's clear that as a person either, Ferran Torres doesn't even reach the sole of Fuentealbilla's hero's shoe. He and his inner circle had been angry for months with Barça and its media environment for having undervalued him by putting him on the transfer list, but whoever has ended up putting him in the shop window has been his own ego with statements that have offended the coldest Culer. Paris, here we go! 

The transfer market is heating up with a move that, if it becomes a reality, could be one of the most talked-about of the summer. Rodrigo Hernández, Real Madrid's favorite to strengthen the midfield, has also become a target for Barça in recent hours. The Barcelona club was paying attention to the negotiations of the Madrid midfielder with the white club and has learned first-hand that discussions have cooled, which has led to contacts in recent hours from the Blaugrana sporting director, Deco, with both the player's entourage and Manchester City, who own his rights until June 30, 2027. The operation is in progress and has strongly leaned in favor of Barcelona's interests.

The VIP area of the Ushuaïa nightclub, in Eivissa, turns into a catwalk of well-known faces during the summer months. It was a usual destination for Leo Messi, Luis Suárez and the cream of the crop of the Barça dressing room a few years ago, and today it continues to be frequented by blaugrana footballers eager for decompression. The latest to be seen there in an evening session were Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia and Eric Garcia. Due to their age and common interests, this trio has bonded in recent months and spends a lot of time together both on and off the pitch. All three (and also Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Pau Cubarsí) have convention holidays until August 12, when more than three weeks will have passed since their World Cup triumph against Leo Messi's Argentina. However, Eric Garcia, according to confirmations from his circle, will advance his return slightly.

Barça was not really aware of having a problem with Leo Messi until May 2021. Joan Laporta had returned to the blaugrana presidency a couple of months earlier and the leader's main objective was to renew the contract of the Rosario forward, which expired at the end of that season. "This is dragging on and it's not good news," predicted one of the president's most trusted people at the time. He was absolutely right. The negotiations with Messi to find an alternative contract, the talks with La Liga to achieve fair play, the failed agreement with CVC, the internal pressures from guarantors who did not see a stratospheric renewal clearly... It was a sum of many things that imploded on that fateful Thursday, August 5th. It has been five years since Barça officially announced that Messi would not continue as blaugrana.

The future of Ferran Torres is one of the hot potatoes that Barça has to resolve before the transfer market closes. The forward from Foios' contract ends on June 30, 2027. With the hype through the clouds for their decisive goal in the World Cup final with Spain, has proposed to improve conditions whether he continues at the Camp Nou after a renewal or moves on this summer, which is the last chance for the Catalan club to get value from a transfer. The third option would be for Ferran to leave for free next summer, with the risks this entails: Barça would not receive any transfer fee, and the player could get injured and be left with nothing, without any contractual link. In any case, no scenario is ruled out at present.

It is no longer news that Barça begins its economic year without giving any details about the previous closure. Years ago, the club used to present an advance of the numbers (as of June 30) to its members in a press conference before August. Subsequently, this economic data (income, expenses, profits, short-term and long-term debts, etc.) was audited and submitted to a vote at the autumn general assembly. However, since Joan Laporta returned to the Camp Nou box in 2021, this exercise in transparency merges directly with the annual meeting – which since covid-19 has been held remotely – with the delegates, which this year is expected to take place in September or October in a single day with many topics to debate and also a certain urgency to resolve them.

In the two friendlies that Barça has played so far – against CE Europa (4-1) behind closed doors and against Birmingham City (2-2, 3-2) – Ebrima Tunkara has shown why, despite being only 16 years old, Hansi Flick has counted on him for pre-season. Born in Lamoi (Gambia) in 2010, he is the youngest in an expedition where the average age is around 20 years. Ebrima and the Israeli midfielder Orian Goren, 17 years old, are those who have lived the fewest days on their ID cards, but they are two of the great sensations of Barça's successful academy. The African winger has been one of the standouts in the two summer tests that the Blaugranas have played. "Physically he's a marvel. He's fast, strong, scores goals, left-footed, technically gifted... a very offensive player," they detail to ARA from Barça's stay in England.

It was a preseason match, just Barça's second –the first in front of a crowd after the 4-1 victory against CE Europa–, but the tiny St Andrew's Stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham was packed to the rafters. Birmingham City FC, a historic English football club that will fight for another year to return to the Premier League, hosted the blaugrana team in the reenactment of a match full of history: both had rivaled in the past in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with the Catalans beating the English in the two-legged final for the edition played between 1958 and 1960.

Barça will begin their league title defense on August 23rd at Elche's ground. It will be one month and five days after the World Cup final in which a large part of the the backbone of the Barça team was crowned champion.This means that Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Pau Cubarsí and company will hardly be able to compete at their best. They would risk suffering injuries just by resuming sporting activity after the success achieved with the Spanish national team. In place of these essential players, Hansi Flick will have to rely at the start of the season on footballers who will have completed a full preseason. Among them, two prominent names stand out: Marc Bernal and Gerard Martín, two young talents who the Barcelona club has had to re-register with the League.

"They weren't good years for Barça. It was a difficult, transitional era. But for me it was a beautiful stage because I wasn't expecting it. I was already 31 years old. With time, one values it even more and lives it as something even more positive," acknowledges Roberto Tito Bonano (Rosario, Argentina, 1970). He landed at Barça just 25 years ago. He already had one foot in Alavés, but suddenly an offer from Barça arrived. "At first I didn't believe it. I asked my agent if it was a joke. I wasn't expecting it because they said they would sign Oliver Kahn, Buffon, or someone like that. But I was the cheapest because I was South American and had been released by River Plate," he says.

Hansi Flick's Barça will continue their preparation for the 2026-2027 season. Still without the bulk of their internationals, the team travels this Monday to St George's Park, the English football team's facilities, and will stay there until August 3rd. Besides bonding, the team will play two friendly matches. One will be behind closed doors, like this Friday's match (4-1) against Europa, and the other will be open to the public and media and will be played on Friday the 31st (8:45 PM) against Birmingham City of the English Second Division.

Remodeling the Camp Nou from top to bottom was not only aimed at repairing possible damage to a stadium built in 1957. The world of football has changed a lot since then and stadiums are no longer just meeting points where one goes to watch a match every two weeks. They are business spaces open 365 days a year and are commercially exploited beyond competition. UEFA and FIFA have also modified their regulations. Football can be played almost anywhere as long as the pitch has the regulation dimensions. But the big tournaments, the big finals, are reserved for the best stadiums. And the old Camp Nou had become obsolete.

"We fell here as we could have fallen anywhere else. And then came this whole story: an Argentine named Leo who is Lamine's first coach. It's as if it were already written," smiles Leo Giordanella (Cipolletti, Patagonia; 1992). Leo Messi and Lamine Yamal first crossed paths in the World Cup final, with a victory for the Spanish national team and the young star from Rocafonda, but their relationship is full of precious connections and incredible coincidences that have united them for years.