Good morning Blaugrana diehards. Welcome to Thursday’s Barcelona blog.
Matt Jones and the rest of the Sport360 team will be here throughout the day, bringing you the latest news, views and gossip from your beloved Blaugrana.
As ever, get in touch with us throughout the day on Twitter and Facebook.
9:40pm – ‘We’d love Neymar back’
Carles Alena is tipped to be one of the future stars for Barcelona but he would love to have a former top player rejoin the club in Neymar.
6:25pm – Busquets nearing milestone
Sergio Busquets is on the verge of playing his 500th game for Barcelona!
3:03pm – Barcelona target Matthijs de Ligt among Golden Boy nominees
The final shortlist for this year’s Golden Boy award was announced on Wednesday, with Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt, Roma’s Justin Kluivert, AC Milan striker Patrick Cutrone and Real Madrid rising star Vinicius Junior making the cut.
Though 2017 winner Kylian Mbappe was a surprise omission, the five finalists are worthy inclusions on the shortlist. Each has established himself as a rising star, first-team regular or coveted transfer target over the last year thanks to some eye-catching displays.
Here Aditya Devavrat takes a look at the five contenders.
1:33pm – Reflecting on another Messi milestone
12:34pm – Time for Antoine Griezmann to do Ballon d’Or talk with his feet
In some quarters, Antoine Griezmann features in the final three-man shortlist that will break the decade-long Ballon d’Or duopoly of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
But Matt Monaghan argues that if he is to be truly deserving of the game’s highest individual accolade, he needs to step up for Atletico Madrid against Barcelona this weekend.
Read Matt’s piece here.
11:34am – Malcom wants to prove he has quality to stay at Barcelona
Malcom wants to play in the tough games to prove he belongs at Barcelona.
The Brazilian has struggled to establish himself at the Camp Nou following a summer move from Bordeaux, but made a big impact in the Champions League before the international break, scoring in a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan.
And the 21-year-old has spoken about that goal and settling into life in Catalonia.
Read the full story right here.