Javier Mascherano ‘agrees terms with Barcelona’
Javier Mascherano is on the verge of making the switch to Barcelona — if the La Liga giants can agree a fee with Liverpool. The defensive midfielder is said to have agreed terms with Barca, with only the valuation of the player proving a sticking point to a deal being finalised.
The Catalan club are believed to have offered the English Premier League outfit 15 million euros (£12.2m) as well as Alexander Hleb and Martin Caceres. Roy Hodgson has slapped a £25m price tag on Mascherano’s head and it appears that the transfer hinges on how highly the Liverpool manager rates the two players he has been offered.
Looking to leave Liverpool
Mascherano has been looking to leave the Anfield club for several weeks after he arrived for the first day of pre-season training with his agent in tow and informed Hodgson of his wish to move on. His family have reportedly failed to settle in Merseyside but reported interest from other clubs had failed to materialise into concrete offers.
Whether Barca can increase their offer remains to be seen as they are operating with debts of around £350m. Therefore, the offer of Hleb and Cacares was reported to be necessary for Liverpool to even consider any offer.
Attacking midfielder Hleb arrived at the Camp Nou from Arsenal in 2008, but has failed to impress and has made just 36 appearances across all competitions. He spent last season on loan with former club Stuttgart and was told last month that he would not be part of coach Pep Guardiola’s plans for this season. Central defender Cacares has also found himself surplus to requirements at Barcelona after joining two years ago. The Uruguay international was farmed out on loan last season to Juventus and has made just 13 league appearances for the La Liga outfit.
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