Barcelona news LIVE: Luis Suarez BACKS £60m Inter Milan transfer; Man Utd interested | Football | Sport

Barcelona news LIVE updates: All the latest news and gossip from the Nou Camp

Wednesday 24, October

• Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar would be a great signing for Barcelona
• He’s been linked with a £60million move to Manchester United
• Mauro Icardi admits he had offers to leave Inter Milan
• Lionel Messi didn’t influence the running of Barcelona while Gerardo Martino was in charge

Milan Skriniar to Barcelona

Milan Skriniar possesses all the necessary qualities to succeed at Barcelona.

That’s according to former Barcelona midfielder Luis ‘Luisito’ Suarez, who believes Skriniar is good enough to play for any side in the world.

Skriniar joined Inter Milan in 2017 and was an ever-present as they finished fourth in Serie A and qualified for the Champions League.

And his performances are understood to have caught the eye of Manchester United and Barcelona.

Suarez, who is currently a scout for Inter, thinks Barcelona would do well to secure his signature that would reportedly cost upwards of £60million.

“He is doing excellent things at Inter,” Suarez told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo. “He’s fast, strong in defence, gets up well, anticipates attacks and makes very few mistakes.

“He has all the qualities of a high level central defender. Barcelona would do an excellent job by recruiting him.”

Barcelona vs Inter Milan – Live!

Barcelona XI: ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arthur, Rafinha, Luis Suarez, Coutinho.

Subs: Cillessen, Nelson Semedo, Dembele, Malcom, Munir, Vidal, Brandariz.

Inter Milan XI: Handanovic, D’Ambrosio, Skriniar, Miranda, Asamoah, Vecino, Brozovic, Candreva, Valero, Perisic, Icardi.

Subs: Padelli, Vrsaljko, de Vrij, Martinez, Balde, Ranocchia, Politano.

Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan

Mauro Icardi offers

Mauro Icardi admits he had offers to leave Inter Milan in the summer.

The Argentina striker has been heavily linked with a return to Barcelona or a big-money move to join Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea revolution.

Icardi came through Barca’s famous La Masia academy before joining Sampdoria in Serie A after a successful loan spell when he was just 18 years old.

Chelsea are desperately looking for a new striker, with both Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud badly struggling for goals.

Meanwhile, Barca are looking for attacking reinforcements, with Luis Suarez the club’s only recognised out-and-out striker.

“I do not know if everything that is published is true,” he said. “I always say that I am very good with my family at Inter, I have no intention of leaving. Offers came in the summer but I have neither the need nor the desire to leave.

“Offers always arrive. At the moment I am very calm and I am focused on what we are doing with the team of which I am a captain. We are going to play in the Champions League and the offers will not move me.”

Lionel Messi claim

Lionel Messi did not influence the running of Barcelona and Argentina while Gerardo Martino was in charge.

That’s according to Martino himself, who has rejected the idea that Messi was ever in control.

Martino managed Barcelona for a season in 2013/14 before he went on to manage Argentina until 2016.

He is now at the helm of American outfit Atlanta United, although it has emerged this week that Martino is leaving and he could be set for the Mexico national team job.

On suggests he has been influenced by Messi, Martino said: “I never did what Messi said, that was a created myth, said by many people. I don’t deny it, the facts do.”

El Clasico

Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui said questions about his future were not for him to answer before receiving the backing of the club’s hierarchy following an unconvincing 2-1 Champions League victory over Viktoria Plzen.

Speculation has persisted that Lopetegui, appointed in the summer, could be sacked before Sunday’s game against Barcelona, but the former national team boss said he would prepare for the match until told otherwise.

“This question is not for me,” he said. “I am convinced about what we are doing and we are thinking about preparing for Sunday’s game, which is very important and one for which we have great ambition.”

And speaking on Movistar’s coverage after the match, club director Emilio Butragueno said Lopetegui would indeed be on the bench in Barcelona.

“Yes, yes, as normal,” he said when asked about the coach. “We must prepare well for the match. In this type of situation it is important to remain calm and trust the players.”

The Ronaldo/Messi debate…

Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi at two things, Luis Suarez Miramontes has claimed of the Juventus star.

Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have won five Ballon d’Or awards each and are among the frontrunners to win the award this year.

And Suarez Miramontes, who spent six years at Barcelona between 1955 and 1961 during his playing days, thinks the Juventus forward is better at two things than his Argentinean rival.

He told Mundo Deportivo: “To say that this or the other is the best in history is very difficult. Same with the teams.

“Each one has to live his time. What I have very clear is that Messi is among the three or four that have been different, special. That’s for sure. In his time Lionel Messi is more spectacular than the rest, he does more things than anyone else.

“Goals, dribble, passes … Cristiano, for example, is stronger and more powerful, but his is exclusively the goal, which is already a lot, by the way.

“But Messi has more, the goal and everything else. Messi only needs to be taller and more handsome (smiles).”

No US away days

Regular season La Liga games are unlikely to be staged in the US as the move lacks support from the various organisations that need to approve the plans, Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales said.

The RFEF informed the league’s organising body that it cannot approve plans to hold Barcelona’s showdown with Girona on Jan. 26 at Miami’s 65,000-capacity Hard Rock Stadium until it receives more information.

According to the statutes of world governing body FIFA, the national federation, regional organisations UEFA and CONCACAF as well as the United States soccer federation must give the green light before the game can take place.

The Miami match would be the first to take place as part of a 15-year deal struck between La Liga and entertainment company Relevent to play one Spanish regular season game in the U.S. every year.

“There’s not a single institution that needs to give it the OK that has said yes,” Rubiales told Spanish newspaper Diario Sport.

“FIFA and (president Gianni) Infantino have said (that they reject the move). UEFA haven’t said yes either, nor have CONCACAF nor the United States federation.

“It’s worrying to sign something without counting on the support of those who have to say yes.”