afc Another Kid From Barca Leaves Them Pissed!

[MrJibbles]

ARSENAL and Barcelona are locked in a bitter bust-up that is souring relations between the Champions League rivals.The Spaniards are furious with Arsenal for trying to snatch 16-year-old wonderkid Jon Miquel Toral Harper from their academy — just like they did with Cesc Fabregas.SunSport can reveal the storm erupted before the clubs clashed at the Emirates last Wednesday as Barca president Sandro Rosell made his opinions forcibly known to Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis.An eye witness said: "Rosell seemed to be raising his voice at Gazidis who stayed calm and did not respond. It was clear, though, that Rosell was particularly angry."The Catalan giants are furious with the Gunners for trying to lure midfielder Toral. He has an English mother and is, I understand, now close to signing a professional contract with the Gunners.Ironically, he has already appeared in a Nike advert alongside Fabregas!The bitter bust-up is now threatening to overshadow the return leg at the Nou Camp when Arsenal defend a 2-1 lead.There is no suggestion the Gunners have done anything untoward but the Catalans are up in arms.Rosell is particularly sensitive about this issue as he was vice-president when the Gunners nabbed Fabregas back in 2003.The Barca president argued with then Gunners vice-chairman David Dein and secured a first-refusal option for Fabregas if Arsenal ever sold him.Now he is livid with Arsenal over the new incident in which the Gunners seem to have gone behind Barcelona's backs again.Barcelona have been publicly tapping-up Fabregas for several years and last summer he was on the verge of returning to his hometown club in a £31million transfer — but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger blocked the move.Wenger has been angrily accusing Barcelona of underhand tactics in their attempts to snatch Cesc.Now this latest incident is certain to further sour relations between the two clubs and is certain to spice up the second leg at the Nou Camp on March 8.

Lets be clear there is no tapping up involved what so ever, has anything wrong occured?Young Guns Blog has also got this story http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/02/arsenal-agree-deal-for-barcelonas-toral/

And more talk of Connor Wickham being at the Barcelona game as a guest, so who knows...

[Francis Coquelin]

not feeling this scattergun approach to signing youths in recent years (CMs in particular)

[Heero Yuy]

Hypocrisy is too much to even make a witty statement

[Guest Lemons]

f*ck Barca. I hope we steal all their youts.

[MrJibbles]

Barcelona have two very contrasting reputations. On the surface they seem incredible, almost too good – the football is too pure.Scratch under the surface and you will see a river of bitterness, arrogance and contempt for anybody not associated with the club, their conduct is not only shocking but is more than tinged with hypocrisy. Arsenal have successfully lured a few of their younger players to the Emirates in a style that takes advantage of the Spanish law, it isn’t illegal and the player has the choice to stay or go… Do they get riled by the fact that a club they see as mediocre in their eyes manages to tempt good players away? Certainly. Their problem should be with the lawmakers and not us. However, to accuse Arsenal of the things that they are, is nothing short of scandalous. Over the past couple of weeks Gattuso has been ripped in the press for playing up to the cameras with his pitch punching and forehead tickle with Joe Jordan – Barca are doing just this, but off camera.“It’s very important to keep this group of young lads together with a grounding in our way of playing football, we don’t like it when other clubs come with offers of money just before the (player’s) 16th birthday.“It’s legal but a little immoral.”Ok, it isn’t the nicest thing we could do, but to say it is immoral is absolutely laughable. Is it as immoral as tapping up Cesc Fabregas for the past five years? As immoral as getting members of the first team squad to have a word with Cesc here and there to share the delights of Barcelona? Draping Cesc in a Barca jersey when you are celebrating a national event isn’t immoral. Shut up.Barcelona snapped up Lionel Messi when he had just entered his teens, uprooting halfway across the world. They only stumbled upon him by chance as well, it wasn’t a major feat of scouting, it was pure luck. Look into their youth teams and you will see a lot of foreign youngsters – it is hardly something that is just exclusive to Arsenal, and to be honest, Arsenal don’t have all that many.Now for the best bit. Barcelona attempted to tap up Chuks Aneke and Benik Afobe a little while ago before they signed professional terms with the club, they tried to poach them but were turned down – something that seems to have really stoked them up. Arsenal are more attractive to younger players than Barcelona (when a player is neutral with no ties to either side) because they know they will get chances. Cesc is as good as he is largely because of his Arsenal education, Barca taught him the basics but Arsenal taught him football, the sort of stuff that you learn whilst out on the pitch and not on a training ground or classroom at La Masia. Barcelona are just the bitter jilted bride at the alter.So often there is a picture painted of Barcelona that is whiter than white, the fact is that Arsenal have been very clever when selling to them. Overmars, Petit, van Bronkhorst, and Thierry Henry – players who were on the wane and never replicated their Arsenal success with Barcelona. That money is probably still sitting in a nice savings account somewhere and being topped up with a lovely sum of interest.What makes the case of Jon Miquel Toral Harper interesting is that he is half English, he wanted to move to England and forced it though – the fact that Barcelona have now banned him despite the player being registered to the club until the end of the season just shows them for what they are, classless.Jordan (Katie Price) and Barcelona have a lot in common. They both build up a fake image of purity and class. No amount of PR can hide the real colours from showing through at some stage – face value is one thing, what lays underneath it is what really happens.Everyone has their faults and that goes for football clubs as well, but nothing can excuse what Barcelona have said, do, and continue to do. Barca are set to embark on another summer of tapping-up Cesc, yet still think they are the bigger, better and more classy club.For those that buy into the Barca love – fine, but don’t you dare preach to me about how amazing, classy and pure they are when it comes to football.Barcelona may play the greatest football and be the most successful club currently but that will never buy them class. I urge you to look into Barcelona and what they say. Look at the facts, the conduct and the stench of sewage that emanates out of that club far stronger than it does from our rivals.There is a footballing hate and a genuine hate. Arsenal fans will be the only ones that can understand the magnitude of saying this:I respect Spurs, I do not respect Barcelona.Ouch…http://thegoonblog.com/

[Frank.]

f*ck Barca. I hope we eat all their youts.