Espanyol shocked by death of Captain

Espanyol have confirmed the very sad news that their captain Daniel Jarque has passed away at the age of 26. Jarque, who was pronounced captain of the side just a month ago, died while on the phone to a relative in the early evening of Saturday 8th August.

Reports suggest that Jarque suffered a heart attack just hours after completing a training session on the club’s pre-season tour of Italy. Espanyol were due to play Bologna on Sunday, but have cancelled their tour and will return to Barcelona in the next 24 hours.

A club statement said: “RCD Espanyol, broken with pain, wish to put themselves at the absolute disposition of the family of our Captain Dani Jarque, to whom go our warmest thoughts”. The news of Jarque’s death comes two years after Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta collapsed during a La Liga game and was later pronounced dead.

Barcelona President Joan Laporta offered his club’s condolences: “We are filled with extreme dismay at this tragic event which we deeply regret. Today we are all in mourning. I want to send on behalf of FC Barcelona, our deepest sympathies to RCD Espanyol for the painful loss of their Captain Dani Jarque, and to his family”.

Jarque was a bright prospect for the Barcelona based club, and had received interest from Liverpool and Tottenham last season. He had represented the club since 2001, and also played for Spain at all youth levels without being capped by the full National side. It’s a tragic loss for Football, and all our thoughts will be with his family and friends at this very hard time.

Rest in peace, Daniel Jarque.

Transfer news

Inter Milan have sold striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, with Samuel Eto'o and Alexandr Hleb going the other way - Eto'o also for an undisclosed fee, and Hleb on a year's loan.

Tottenham are close to capturing the signature of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth for £10,000,000. The deal will go through only after Darren Bent is sold to Sunderland, a deal that will conclude in the next 48 hours.

Steve Finnan is in talks with Portsmouth after being released a year early from his Espanyol contract. The ex-Liverpool right-back joined the La Liga side at the start of last season, and is now prepared for a return to the Premier League.

Manchester City's latest targets are two defenders. Arsenal man Kolo Toure, and Everton's Joleon Lescott have both been linked with moves to Eastlands recently, and with big money on the table, who would bet against them making the move?

Portsmouth centre-half Sylvain Distin has been linked with both Aston Villa and Liverpool in recent times, but it looks as if Villa have won the race to capture the Frenchman's signature. Portsmouth however are demanding £4,000,000 for the ex-Man City man, but Villa are only prepared to pay £2,500,000. Liverpool will be waiting in the wings should the deal break down.

Finally, Blackburn have expressed a desire to sign Zenith St Petersburg striker Pavel Pogrebnyak as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz. The deal is still in early days, so it is hard to say whether it will happen, but it'd be a decent capture for Rovers who have already made 4 new signings this summer.