Spanish League - Barcelona looking to secure key players by extending contracts
By Ally White
The current leader of the Spanish League, FC Barcelona, is working on the extension of four of their key players by lengthen their contracts until 2014. The first in line is the Mexican Rafael Marquez, who has been one of the most consistent and more loyal players that Barcelona has since 2003. The other three players are Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol and Samuel Eto’o, with whom Barça is accelerating negotiations. Sergio Busquets and Xavi have already signed the extensions of their contracts and the team hopes these four players would do it as well.
On the other hand, the club is preparing for the second part of the season and Coach Pep Guardiola is doing all the adjustments to preserve their winning pace. However, there is still a long way to go but the team hopes to obtain the league cup and they will work for that. Besides this season, the club is trying to secure the team’s future with the extension contracts.
It is known that Rafa Marquez wants to end his football career with Barça, which is probably why he will sign the agreement with the club. Marquez started his professional soccer career with the Mexican club Atlas in 1996 and then he moved to Europe in 1999, where he played for Monaco. However four years later, Marquez decided to move to Spain and signed a contract with Barcelona. Since then, Marquez has been loyal to the club and contributed to the team in winning two league championships and one Champions League title.
For its part, the Spaniard Carles Puyol has been a Barcelona player since 1999, and he has also being a key player and the current captain of the squad since the season 2003-04. In the case of Victor Valdez things are looking similar as he has been with the club since he was part of the youth teams, becoming later the starting line-up goalkeeper for Barça in 2003-04. Ever since then, Valdes has been one of the most important goalkeepers for the club and mostly the starting one for the Catalans.
On the other hand, Samuel Eto’o has become one the best strikers for Barcelona and a fundamental player in every game. Eto’o became part of Barcelona in 2004, after spending some time with the Real Madrid B and then moving to Mallorca as a loan from the Real Madrid at first and later signing with them in 2000.
With these foundations and the loyalty of these players, FC Barcelona expects a great future for the team and hopes the agreements could be made before the second part of the season starts. Currently, Barcelona has won 15 of the 16 league games so far, has scored 48 goals and has allowed only 10 goals in the 16 matches played.
Pep Guardiola is excited about his team and what they can do in the future. For now, the club is focusing on this season league title and maintaining or surpass their lead of 10 points in the top spot of the standings. Along with Pep Guardiola accurate training by stressing the importance of hard work and ethic as well with focusing on passing, possession and pressure, things could look great for the leaders. We hope the best for Barcelona in the second part of the season.
About the Author
Ally White is a top senior copy writer on Spanish League Soccer and sports action for the online sportsbetting: http://www.instantactionsports.com/uk. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.