© EuroFootball.com
After more than two months of tense negotiations, the future of Argentine striker Javier Saviola has finally been clarified - on Friday the club announced that Saviola is being loaned out to another team for one season.
Last season, Saviola was loaned out to AS Monaco. This summer, the striker returned to Barcelona and hoped to continue his career there. However, he did not find a place in the team coached by Frank Rijkaard, and the club's leaders decided to loan the player to another team where Javier would be a key player in the starting lineup and could improve.
FC Barcelona had almost finalized Saviola's move to another Barcelona-based team, RCD Espanyol, but they failed to reach an agreement that satisfied both sides, as Espanyol did not agree to the high salary demanded by the Argentine. Financial conditions were not the only reason the transfer didn't happen - it is believed that Barcelona's officials simply did not want to let the player go to one of their fiercest rivals.
Upon learning that he will spend the next season at Sevilla, Javier Saviola contacted Espanyol's president D. Sanchez and personally thanked him for all the efforts to reach an agreement with Barcelona's officials.
Despite wanting to play for Espanyol, Saviola stated that he is happy to have finally found a new club: "I wanted to play for a club where I could show what I'm worth before the upcoming World Cup. I am grateful to Sevilla for the opportunity." - said Saviola.
Today, "El Pibito" will be presented to the fans of Sevilla.
