Striking oversight

In demand: Robinho

The line here coming out of the club, although they don't want to be quoted any further than that, is that they do want to sign him on a loan deal if Manchester City don't charge too much for that loan deal.

Graham Hunter
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Robinho may well be a Barcelona target - but Guillem Balague is adamant the Brazilian is not Camp Nou-bound.

The Manchester City winger was again linked with a move to the La Liga leaders after Barcelona failed to win a league game for the first time this campaign, away at Valencia on Saturday.

The 0-0 draw raised questions about the below-par form of Lionel Messi but, as Spanish-based journalist Graham Hunter explained, all the talk at present is of Robinho.

Loan

"Txiki Begiristain, who is Pep Guardiola's line manager, said 'this is a player that we tried to sign during the summer, we are watching the market very closely," Hunter told Revista de la Liga.

"The line here coming out of the club, although they don't want to be quoted any further than that, is that they do want to sign him on a loan deal if Manchester City don't charge too much for that loan deal.

"Allegedly at the moment it is about 3-3½ million to loan him for six months. Remember he could, if signed, play in the Champions League for Barcelona.

"But I go back to what we talked about at the very early stages of the season. Pep Guardiola said 'give me a left winger'. The club failed. They are now only addressing the fact that again Pep Guardiola is right. It is vital that they fill that position."

Rebel

Barca may well be interested, countered Balague, but that does not mean City boss Mark Hughes is about to lose one of his most highly-prized assets.

"Manchester City are not going to let Robinho go on loan; they have got no intention whatsoever to sell Robinho and Barcelona has not been in touch about a deal," said Balague.

"Manchester City is a club that wants to win trophies, so why get rid of some of the best players? No. There is no possibility of it happening.

"The player will have to become a rebel at City and the club will have to deal with that situation if it happens but it hasn't.

"And regarding a swap deal (with Thierry Henry) - no, it's not going to happen either. I've got the impression that Henry is leaving Barcelona at the end of the season.

"There were meetings last month between his representatives and New York Red Bulls and I've got the impression that after the World Cup he is going to go to the MLS."

Pressure

One player definitely staying put at Barca is Messi, although a recent dip in his performance-levels has led some to question whether the tag of being the best player in the world is starting to weigh heavy on him.

Balague believes the 22-year-old is feeling the pressure of expectation, but added that a torrid time on the international scene is not helping.

Diego Maradona's Argentina needed a late Mario Bolatti strike against Uruguay to reach the 2010 World Cup and Balague believes a torrid qualifying campaign has taken its toll on the winger.

"There is a mental tiredness, there is no doubt about that," he said. "It comes as well from that pressure. Remember when we talked to (Frank) Rijkaard a couple of seasons ago and he was saying 'he's not daunted by the pressure, he could be playing in front of 100,000 people and it doesn't matter.

"At the moment he comes back from Argentina and takes a while to recover. He's not the only international that suffers from that but he is certainly one that Barcelona is worried about.

"So much so that they are thinking about giving him a little bit of a holiday somewhere in the middle of the season - unheard of in Spain - but they feel he needs that rest pretty soon because what we are seeing a man who doesn't smile when he comes back from Argentina."