Barcelona spent around 90 million euros on new players ahead of the 2008-2009 season, and now they are splashing out on behalf of the club’s members. The Catalonians, who with 156,000 socios have the highest membership in the world behind Benfica, have allegedly spent 18 million euros on a leisure park that includes their very own beach. At the Playd del Bares fans can now recover from the stresses of everyday life and chat about their favourite club, amongst other things.

Last season Tiago failed to live up to the 15 million euro fee Juventus invested in the Portuguese midfielder. Italy’s most successful club therefore opted to sell the 27-year-old. AS Monaco and Everton expressed an interest, but the player vehemently refused to leave Turin. In fact, as recently came to light, Tiago locked Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigh in a toilet in a fit of rage. Alessandro del Piero heard the Juve boss banging his fists on the door and eventually managed to release him. Tiago’s unconventional stunt seems to have had an effect, though, as he is still playing his football for Juventus

UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg grabbed worldwide attention a few weeks ago when they spent 30 million euros on a single player, a record for a Russian club. That was the value they placed on Portugal international Danny, who had been on the books of league rivals Dynamo Moscow since July 2005, having previously played for Sporting Lisbon and Maritimo. The attacking midfielder is highly regarded in Russia because he has adapted to the special conditions there, unlike many other foreign players, and continues to dazzle on the pitch. Born in Venezuela, Danny was 14 when he arrived in Portugal, where despite being considered a very promising talent he failed to secure a regular first-team berth, either at Sporting or at Maritime The father of three-year-old twins Bernardo and Francisco finally made the breakthrough in Russia. At Zenit, the maestro with the outstanding vision and excellent footballing brain has lofty ambitions for this season: “I want to progress as far as possible in the UEFA Champions League.”

For more info please visit the website of Zenith FC