Barcelonas xmas came early when news filtered through that their bid for Manchester Citys forward Robinho had been rejected. The euforia surrounding Barcas sextruplet must have gone to Laportas head as he made Man City an offer for their record signing. Luckily for the Catalan club, Man City decided not to cash on on their Brazilian flop, allowing him to sulk a few more months in northern England before being shipped off to the continent. Besides where would he have played? They have the best attacking quartet in World Football, and with talented youngsters Pedro, Jeffren, Bojan and even Gai Assulin waiting in the wings, it would have been a tremendous waste of money.It's been a busy few days for Barcelona. Today they took on Kazma of Kuwait in a meaningless friendly, with a line-up bursting with reserves and youth teamers. The game ended one apiece, with a Bojan goal (80mins) being cancelled out with virtually the last kick by Abdullah al Dafiri. The match reportedly earned Barca €1.8 million and no doubt endless Asian fans, but it came at a cost as Jeffren was taken off with thigh injury. Guardiola used the friendly to try out Chygrynskiy as a shield infront of the back four as he will be missing Keita and Yaya Toure during the African Cup of Nations. The move didn't pan out too well though as the Ukranian was badly at fault for the Kuwaiti goal. Pep will be hoping Sergio Busquets keeps fit during January.
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Behind the scenes, Joan Laporta has announced that he will be stepping down at the end of this season, and has not ruled out elections before. Firstly he wants to tie Pep Guardiola to the club with a long-term contract: a man he believes is already among the finest managers Barca have ever had, and who will one day be recognised as the best manager ever. The current frontrunner to take over the club is Sandro Rossel, a businessman who has worked in marketing with Nike and was a fundamental part of Laportas 2003 presidential campaign which saw Ronaldinho brought to the club.