Javier Mascherano’s move to Barcelona was finally confirmed this evening after the player passed his five-hour medical and penned a four-year contract. The process had been held up by delays in documentation coming through from Anfield.
Mascherano’s contract includes a buyout clause of €90m and is worth less financially to the player than it originally would have been. Barça’s vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the player had made extra efforts to see the deal done: “He gave up 20% of the initially agreed salary,” explained Bartomeu.
What Bartomeu wouldn’t reveal was how much the Reds had made from the transfer: “Liverpool have asked us not to announce the transfer fee for now. That’ll happen later.”
Why Liverpool have told Barcelona to keep the fee a secret is anyone’s guess, but the 20% given up by Mascherano, reportedly worth €3m over the four years of the deal, was the difference between Barcelona’s final offer and Liverpool’s asking price.
Mascherano said it was worth it: “The last thing that crossed my mind was the money. I gave up part of my salary because this was a unique opportunity. I might lose some money but I win a lot football-wise.”
Continue reading Masch signs for Barca, Roy tries to strengthen
Mascherano played a vital role for Liverpool during his three and a half years at the club. Although he started last season with his mind clearly on other issues he has on the whole been treated as a hero by most supporters since he arrived at Anfield, initially on loan, in 2007.
Mascherano had been looking for a move away from Anfield since last summer, citing his wife’s unhappiness as the main reason for his desire to not just change club but change country.
Later figures suggested demands as ‘low’ as £500m – but were still some way short of what was on offer from the only known bidder for the club.
Now there are doubts about how genuine Martin Broughton was when he said that the club would be sold to the best bidder. It suggested that, contrary to his claims, the current owners were not only able to block the sale of the club but were actively doing so.
Today, the club is still in the wrong hands. Today, the arguments rage about what kind of owner Kenny Huang might have been. Today, we’re talking in the past tense when discussing the man said to be fronting a bid that had the backing of China’s sovereign wealth fund. Huang pulled out of the sales process last night, clearly frustrated at the way he’d been treated.