“Barcelona is the easiest deal to set up as Javier wants to go to Spain. He is tired of life in England.

“His wife has not been given a permanent visa. She has to go through an odyssey each time she wants to go.

“Liverpool refuse to sell, this can be overcome with an extraordinary offer.”

Why is that news for us, I hear you say? Well if Mascherano does go to Barcelona, what will the future of Yaya Toure be? Surely there isn’t room for 4 defensive midfielders (Keita and Marquez included) at the club where only one plays… stay tuned!

“If all goes well, towards the end of the week we will sign the contract.

“The road was not easy during the last few weeks but now Barcelona have realised that Yaya is an important member of their squad and they value his services.”

New coming from Mascherano is that his is flattered at the link with Barcelona, but Yaya’s agent is worried about that…

“This is not a problem for Yaya Toure, but for the Argentinian because he could be on the bench for many minutes.”