Barcelona will encourage Manchester City interest in Thierry Henry as the Spanish league leaders seek to bolster their summer transfer budget. Barça are also receptive to offers for their leading scorer, Samuel Eto’o, who they fear losing for nothing when his contract expires at the end of next season.

City’s aggressive plans to purchase a squad capable of qualifying for the Champions League have positioned them as European football’s cash cow and Barcelona are eager to milk them to support their own recruitment strategy. They would like to replace Henry with Robin van Persie and add his Arsenal team-mate Cesc Fábregas to their midfield, but currently do not have the resources to fund both transfers.

Barcelona are nursing an unexpected €30m (£27.3m) deficit after the Catalan broadcaster TV3 refused to cover a fine imposed on the club for unilaterally breaking a contract with another television company, Audiovisual Sport, to screen its matches. Barça have banned TV3 from the Camp Nou in an unsuccessful attempt to force payment, but are also preparing to sell to make up the shortfall.

Henry struggled for fitness and form in his first season at the club and, although the striker has been a more effective force this campaign, he turns 32 in August and is considered replaceable. While Barça would accept far less than the €125m release clause on Henry’s contract, the player himself is understood to be unwilling to switch the success and climate of Barcelona for the uncertainty of chasing a top-four place at Eastlands. The possibility of jeopardising his place in France’s 2010 World Cup squad is another consideration.

Barça would also be receptive to offers for Yaya Touré and Seydou Keita, aware that both midfielders are likely to be on African Nations Cup duty in January, with Ivory Coast and Mali respectively. Touré has been a target for several Premier League sides, including City. Eto’o, meanwhile, has been advised to sit out the final season of his contract and entertain offers as a free agent in 2010. The Cameroon forward has little loyalty to Barça’s board after the club unsuccessfully put him up for sale last summer.

In Germany, a 5-1 home victory for Wolfsburg against Bayern Munich proved enough to take the winners to the top of the Bundesliga, because the erstwhile leaders, Hertha Berlin, lost 3-1 at home to Borussia Dortmund. Wolfsburg lead Hamburg, 1-0 victors at home to Hoffenheim, on goal difference.

Wolfsburg were level at half-time against the team who started the day in second, after two goals in two minutes just before the break. Luca Toni equalised for Bayern after Christian Gentner’s opener. In the second half, though, two goals apiece from Edin Dzeko and Grafite gave Wolfsburg an emphatic win. For the fifth, Grafite dribbled past two defenders and the goalkeeper before scoring with a backheel in front of two other stunned Bayern defenders.

In today’s pod, James is joined by an ‘Old Skool’ line-up of Sean Ingle, Kevin McCarra and Barry Glendenning to have the final say on the weekend’s action.

There’s plenty to mull over, as Liverpool’s thrashing of Man Utd cuts the gap to four points, and the pod debate whether it is too little too late for the chasing teams. They are also amused by Alex Ferguson’s reaction to defeat, disappointed by the Aston Villa boo-boys and excited by Andrei Arshavin’s goal for Arsenal.

Sid Lowe is on the phone from Madrid with news of a feisty battle between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, Bojan Krkic overcoming confidence problems to score twice for Barcelona at Almería and Atlético Madrid doing their Champions League prospects the world of good with a win over Villarreal.

Paolo Bandini is beamed up to the pod to give us an Italian round-up which includes super Pippo Inzaghi reaching 300 goals and Inter marching closer to the title thanks to goals from flat-track bully Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

To get involved, post your comments on the blog below, or come and find us on Facebook.

And click here to subscribe free, via iTunes, and get the latest episode on your iPod every week.

• Uefa unlikely to move final despite trouble last night
• Arsenal supporter suffered suspected stab wound

Uefa has claimed that moving the Champions League final away from Rome after last night’s trouble in the Italian capital would make fans less safe. An Arsenal fan suffered a suspected stab wound in a clash with hooligans before last night’s game against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, the venue for this year’s final.

The incident led to speculation the showpiece could be moved to another city, but the Uefa spokesman, William Gaillard, said such a move would disrupt security measures already put in place.

“Moving to another place would probably put these arrangements in danger so it wouldn’t be safer, it would be less safe,” he said. “We will review arrangements with the Italian police. We will have a larger number of police present, as we did in Moscow [for the final] last year, and more stewards for visiting fans. It will be a different situation in which it will be a neutral venue.

“We take it seriously because a fan was injured and there is no way we would take it for granted that everyone will be fine. We will be in a completely different context for the final. There will be no Rome team involved. A much more neutral context, together with the special measures we are putting in place with the Rome police, should ensure we have a good venue for the fans.”

The British Embassy in Rome said last night’s victim was travelling on a minibus when it lost its way near the stadium and was ambushed by rival fans. An embassy spokesman said the injured man managed to make his way into the stadium where he was treated for a bleeding leg.

Arsenal fans were warned before the game, which the Gunners won on penalties to eliminate the hosts from the competition, to avoid certain areas of the city because of fears there could be trouble with Roma’s notorious hardcore fans, or “ultras”. It was not the first time fans have been hurt in the Italian capital with Manchester United supporters twice targeted over the past two seasons.

That led the Uefa president, Michel Platini, to warn earlier this season the final could be moved should such violent incidents continue.

• Pep Guardiola would relish taking on an English club
• ‘They have to come here to play so that will be difficult for them’

The Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, has said he would relish taking on one of the four English clubs in the Champions League quarter-finals. The Catalans defeated Lyon 5-2 at the Camp Nou to reach the last eight and the former midfielder said: “If you want to win the Champions League you have to play with the best in Europe.

“So we’ll take the challenge. It would be nice to taste success against one of the English sides. If we have to play one of them it will definitely be a good match.

Barça enjoyed a thrilling return to form at a packed Camp Nou on Wednesday, racing to a 4-0 lead thanks to Thierry Henry’s quickfire double, a trademark Lionel Messi run and cool finish as well as a powerful Samuel Eto’o strike. They are still in with a chance of winning a treble with the Champions League, Primera Liga and the Spanish Cup and have a six-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid in the league.

The 2006 Champions League winners reached the semi-finals of last season’s tournament, losing to eventual winners Manchester United and Guardiola said the quartet of United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool would all be formidable opponents in the last eight. “It will be difficult for us but they have to come here to play so I’m sure it will be difficult for them too,” he said.

“Whoever our opponents are, we will study them closely and try to pinpoint their weaknesses. Whoever we are drawn against is welcome.”

Bayern Munich, Porto and Barça’s Spanish rivals Villarreal are also in the quarter-final draw on 20 March .

• Chelsea and Liverpool also interested in Spanish internationals
• January asking price for the pair was at least £135m

Manchester City’s prospects of enticing David Villa and David Silva to the Premier League have improved after Valencia’s new chief executive, Javier Gómez, admitted the club may have no option but to sell their prized assets this summer.

The City manager, Mark Hughes, identified the Valencia pair as his prime targets for the recent January transfer window, ahead of the abortive attempt to sign Kaka in a world record deal from Milan, only for negotiations to break down over the Spanish club’s exorbitant asking price. A City delegation met Valencia officials in December with a view to a combined £100m deal for the Spain internationals but withdrew from talks when the financially-stricken club insisted on £135m.

An added complication for City, at least in the case of the much coveted Villa, was the striker’s insistence that he would rather extend his contract with Valencia than leave the Mestalla Stadium for the Premier League. That stance may now be challenged from within Valencia, however, after Gómez admitted the club’s financial excesses could not continue.

“The club is in a very delicate situation,” he said. “It has to control spending, grow income and sell assets.” When asked if that included player sales, the chief executive responded: “Obviously, we will consider that type of action. We have to control costs and the biggest cost in a football club is maintaining a team.”

Gómez’s promotion to chief executive had itself increased the prospect of Valencia selling both Villa and Silva, who attracted interest from Chelsea and Liverpool before City’s new-found wealth dramatically raised the Spanish club’s asking price. The new CEO was appointed following a board meeting yesterday and, according to reports in Spain, arrives with the full backing of Bancaja. The Spanish bank is Valencia’s major creditor and is owed €240m (£214m) out of the club’s total debt of almost €450m.

Valencia’s financial predicament has resulted in players being unpaid, with reports claiming they are owed a total of €15m in wages, while plans to help finance a move to a new stadium by selling the land around the Mestalla have not come to fruition. Construction work on the 75,000-seater stadium, originally scheduled for completion this May, has now stopped.

Gómez added: “Before, we had a plan that was based purely on selling the land – now we need to seek alternatives. We need to win back credibility with the financial institutions.” The new CEO was unable to confirm when the money owed to players would be paid.

• Spanish club face debts of around £400m
• Silva and Villa have been previous Liverpool targets

Valencia may be forced to sell players to resolve the club’s financial problems, the Primera Liga side’s new chief executive, Javier Gómez, said. The club’s potentially most valuable players are Spanish internationals David Villa and David Silva, who have both been linked with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and other Premier League clubs.

Gómez was promoted to CEO after a board meeting on Wednesday and the Spanish media reported it was with the support of Spanish bank Bancaja, the club’s major creditor which is owed €240m (£213m) out of a total debt of around €450m (£400m).

“The club is in a very delicate situation. It has to control spending, grow income and sell assets,” Gómez said. “Obviously we will consider [selling players],” he said. “We have to control costs and the biggest cost in a football club is maintaining a team.”

• City linked with £100m move
• “I will stay as long as they want me”

Lionel Messi has once again stressed his desire to remain at Barcelona for the rest of his career amid increasing speculation about his future.

Following their ill-fated pursuit of Kaka, Manchester City have been linked with an audacious move for Messi and reports suggest that the Premier League side are preparing a £100m bid for the Argentina international.

But Messi, who started out in Barcelona’s youth team nine years ago, insists he has no wish to leave the Catalan giants. “If it were up to me, I would stay at Barcelona until I finish my career,” he told Portuguese newspaper Publico. “I will stay as long as they want me and no club can persuade me to do the opposite.”

Messi has finished as runner-up in the Fifa World Player of the Year award for the past two years and has scored 17 goals in La Liga this season.

• ‘It is flattering for the coach, but it is nothing more than that’
• Reports increase pressure on under-fire Hughes

Jürgen Klinsmann, the Bayern Munich manager, has admitted to feeling “flattered” after he was linked with a move to Manchester City, but denied reports that he is to take over at Eastlands.

According to the Daily Mail, Klinsmann has been singled out as the man to take over from the current manager Mark Hughes, who is coming under increased pressure during his first season at the club, which lies in 10th place in the Premier League.

City yesterday distanced themselves from claims they had approached the former German national team manager although the news will come as a further setback to Hughes, who has struggled to meet the high expectations of the club since it was taken over in the summer by the Abu Dhabi United Group. Hughes has also had disciplinary problems with some of City’s leading players, notably the Brazil international, Robinho.

Klinsmann, meanwhile, insisted his desire was to remain at the helm of the Bundesliga side, telling the German newspaper, Bild: “I have a fascinating job here and the ambition to stand at the end of the season in the Marienplatz [the traditional place where titles are celebrated in Munich].”

“I tell my players like Franck Ribéry, for example, that it is flattering for the club and the player when they are linked to other clubs. That is the same for the coach, but it is nothing more than that.”

Klinsmann has come under fire himself over recent weeks with two defeats in the past three league games leaving Bayern four points off the pace at the top of the Bundesliga. However, a 5-0 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League this week has served to ease some of the pressure ahead of today’s clash at Werder Bremen.

Klinsmann conceded, though, that there is still “a hell of a lot of hard work ahead” and a further defeat today against Thomas Schaaf’s side, who knocked Milan out of the Uefa Cup on Thursday, would do little to still his critics.

• Governing body investigated controversial remarks
• ‘Everything was against us’ claimed Inter manager

The Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho will not face disciplinary action from Uefa over his remarks about the referee following his side’s goalless draw with Manchester United. Mourinho had accused Spanish ref Luis Medina Cantalejo of favouring United in his decisions, and there had been speculation he would receive a touchline ban for the return leg at Old Trafford. However, a Uefa spokesman confirmed today: “There will be no action taken.”

Mourinho said after the game in Milan: “When we go there [to Old Trafford] we will not have the same referee. If we have another referee it gives so much protection to the away team, then it will be us who go to the quarter-finals.

“Everything was against us, every little detail. You watch how many free-kicks they had and we had. The way we got yellow cards and they did not. I think the tendency was clear. Hopefully in the next game the referee will be on our side.”

• Inter manager claimed official favoured United
• Disciplinary action could include touchline ban

Uefa is to investigate the Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho’s criticisms of referee Luis Medina Cantalejo following last night’s Champions League tie against Manchester United. Inter were held to a 0–0 draw at San Siro, but Mourinho was keen to apportion blame elsewhere after his side’s poor showing.

The Portuguese accused Cantalejo of favouring United, saying “Hopefully in the next game [at Old Trafford] the referee will be on our side … I don’t want to go into details of things like how we didn’t have a penalty. Everything was against us, every little detail. You watch how many free-kicks they had and we had. The way we got yellow cards and they did not. I think the tendency was clear.”

If Mourinho is charged and found guilty he could face heavy disciplinary action, including a touchline ban for the second leg. “We are looking into Mr Mourinho’s after-match statements,” said a Uefa spokesman today.