Guardiola's jar of players bordering on empty

 

There must be another attacker in there somewhere... somewhere... 

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola might have scooped up the Coach of the Year award at the 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala in Zurich last week, but the Catalan trainer has little reason for optimism at the moment.

After previous injuries to Ibrahim Afellay and David Villa, the Blaugrana also lost Pedro and Andreu Fontas due to various physical problems last week.

Additionally, Brazilian full-back Maxwell left the club for Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week, while Seydou Keita has been included in Mali's 2012 Afcon squad.

This has left Guardiola with selection problems ahead of Sunday's away game against Betis and the 40-year-old has to dig deep to find 11 players... 

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Di Stefano leads Cristiano Ronaldo boo brigade

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Barbara sticks with Pato & boots Tevez

 

It seemed like the transfer saga that would never end. 

Will Carlos Tevez finally get his wish and swap Manchester City for AC Milan? Will Paris Saint-Germain get their trophy-signing and bring Alexandre Pato to Parc des Princes?

It appeared salvation had finally arrived on Thursday. 

Reports emerged that PSG had agreed a fee for Pato and the Italian champions had already lined up a ready-made replacement in the form of Tevez.

But then it all fell apart. Pato announced that he had no intention of leaving his 'home' in Milan, and any move Massimiliano Allegri would make for Tevez had stalled.

The powers that be stepped in. Barbara Berlusconi, AC Milan board member and the daughter of Italy's mercurial politician, put the kibosh on any deal, unwilling to lose her boyfriend to Tevez, a less aesthetically pleasing alternative.

I guess we have her to blame for an inevitable 18 further days of speculation ... 
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