Sports

The two football clubs have reached an agreement in principle. The deal will be worth a maximum of €5.1 million, with 2.1 due this season, 2 more if Villa stays at Atletico next year and another million should he be at the Madrid club the season after. FC Barcelona also reserve the right to 50% of any sell on fee in the future. Villa joined Barça in the summer of 2010. The Spanish forward has played 119 times for Barça, scoring 48 goals.

The French defender has signed a season long deal, with the option of a further year. Abidal returns to the football club where he played from 2000-2002 before signing for Lyon. Abidal played for Barça between 2007 and 2013. The Catalan club and the player announced in late May he will not continue playing with FC Barcelona in the next season. Abidal’s touching farewell took place in early June at the Camp Nou, after he had played the last 15 minutes of the FC Barcelona vs Malaga game.

The Brazilian team are currently 16th in the Campeonato Brasileño Serie A after five matches. Neymar's former team will have to face the challenge of overcoming the sale of its biggest star. Santos’ participation in the Joan Gamper Trophy was agreed upon when Barça signed the Brazilian forward. From Wednesday July 3, tickets go on sale for the FC Barcelona v Santos match for the Joan Gamper Trophy. For this game, the font used on the Barça shirt will be different to the usual one. A special typography designed by Anna Vives will be used.

In a globalised world, immigration is a crucial factor to understanding how societies are organised. But there are different kinds of immigration. The most common immigrants are those who come to look for work. They are mostly workers from developing countries that are in a situation of poverty, but others come to do unusual jobs, in which they may earn big money and can leave their mark on local people. Moses Ehambe (Arlington, Texas, 1986) and Troy Devries (Mount Vernon, Washington, 1982) are basketball players for Fiact Joventut de Badalona and La Bruixa d’Or Manresa. Despite being foreigners, they prove that sport stars can adapt to the Catalan way of life.

Last week Lionel Messi and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were formally accused by the Spanish Public Prosecution Office of having evaded €4 million in taxes regarding his image rights between 2007 and 2009. The judge in charge of the case has decided to indict the FC Barcelona player and his father. She has asked them to come to the court with their lawyers on the 17th of September to be interrogated, in order to decide whether she will formally accuse them or not. Messi’s lawyers issued a press release in which they stated the player’s will to cooperate with the judicial process and added he will pay whatever he is told. However, they also insisted on Messi’s innocence, emphasising they “are sure” he has already honoured his fiscal obligations. In addition, the Argentinean player released a statement last week fully denying the accusations.

“Having a winning team is the beginning of the formula that leads us to success,” says FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell at the press conference overviewing the 2012-2013 season. “We’re adopting a management model that adjusts to the reality that surrounds us, that’s viable, sustainable and responsible,” he states. Rosell highlighted the increase in revenue due to sponsorships.

The FC Barcelona player denies having evaded taxes. “We have not committed an offence” and “we have always honoured our fiscal obligations” stated Lionel Messi in a note published on his Facebook account. On Wednesday, the Public Prosecution Office accused the Argentinean football player and his father Jorge Horacio Messi of not having paid €4 million to the Spanish Tax Agency in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The Prosecution Office believes they hid “important revenue” deriving from image rights and “simulated” signing over the image rights to societies based in fiscal havens such as Belize or Uruguay or with addresses in countries particularly permissive with such societies such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

56,500 Barça fans came to the Camp Nou to welcome Neymar to FC Barcelona. "Barça are more than a club and a great team and I want to help Leo Messi to continue to be the greatest player in the world," he said. Neymar da Silva Junior signed his contract with FC Barcelona on Monday afternoon. He will be a Barça player through the 2017/18 season. The signing ceremony took place at thye club’s offices in the Catalan capital. The player, Barça President Sandro Rosell, Vice President Josep Maria Bartomeu and the Football Director Andoni Zubizarreta were all in attendance.

Barça put four past Malaga in the last game of the season and hit the 100 point mark. The Catalans were three up after a quarter of an hour thanks to goals from Villa, Cesc and Montoya. Iniesta got the fourth in the second half before Morales got a consolation goal for Malaga. Abidal came on to a standing ovation on 75 minutes for his final minutes as a Barça player.

A great performance from Barça, with goals from Alexis and Pedro won the derby at Espanyol’s Cornellà-El Prat Stadium. The Champions just keep on winning! Barça reached 97 points on Sunday evening after a clear 0-2 win over city neighbours Espanyol and with one game to go that 100-point margin is still in sight.

Neymar, who announced the news on Twitter and Instagram, will play for Barça for the next five seasons. The player is known for his exquisite technical skills which makes this free-scoring striker a nightmare for any defence. His style is beautiful to watch and he has received recognition and praise from the legendary Pelé himself, of whom many believe he is the modern successor.

FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with the Brazilian player to extend the contract linking the two parties for four additional seasons. The player's buyout clause is set at 90 million euros. Adriano has become known as one of the most versatile players on FC Barcelona’s roster. He’s performed well in the centre back position, as well as the right and left full back positions and as an attacking midfielder.

The rain that fell on the Catalan capital did not tarnish the first X-Games held in Barcelona, although it did cause a headache for the organisers, who had to juggle with competition schedules and even cancel the RallyCross and Moto X Freestyle competitions. 114,600 people attended the event in total, crowding out the venues in which the different competitions were held.

For the first time in its history, FC Barcelona will be wearing an away kit based on the red and yellow Catalan flag – the ‘senyera’. FC Barcelona and Nike presented Barça’s new first team’s kit on Tuesday morning, which include the traditional blue and claret stripes in a modern design which sees the stripes peter off on the sleeves. Furthermore shorts will be blue for the main outfit and red for the away kit.

A goal from Pedro and an own goal by Marc Valiente gave Barça the win that takes them to 94 points. Nothing can stop Barça in the Spanish League this season. Tito Vilanova’s men chalked up another win at the Camp Nou on Sunday night, seeing off Valladolid in what proved to be quite a tricky game.