“Of course I would like to play for Barca, who wouldn’t? We could have a lot of fun. It would be a pleasure to play with Messi, with my colleague Alves, with Xavi, Iniesta, Ibrahimovic, with all of them. They are a brilliant team.

“I have played against them and I know their quality. But at the moment I can only do it on my Playstation.”

Manchester City’s gifted but controversial Brazilian forward Robinho was thus quoted in Barcelona-based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo on Thursday.

According to the paper and its fellow Catalan sheet Sport, Robinho could join Pep Guardiola’s European champions on loan in January and has asked City for permission to leave.

Sport reported on Tuesday the deal would cost Barca 3.2 million euros ($4.8 million) and they would assume the payment of his current annual salary of 6.2 million.

A transfer had also been mooted, according to Sport, that would see Barca pay City 35 million euros and Robinho agree a contract through 2014.

Robinho, full name Robson de Souza, told El Mundo Deportivo he knew nothing about a possible deal.

“I assure you that as of this moment my father, who is my only representative, has not told me anything about Barca,” he said.

“Out of respect for Manchester City, which is my team, it should be the two clubs that talk about my loan or transfer and then tell me.

“It’s not right to talk about this hypothetical transfer or loan until there is something more concrete. I repeat: I don’t know anything, believe me.”

Robinho has been dogged by controversy on his journey from Brazil to Manchester via Real Madrid.

The word “unsettled” has stuck to him throughout his career but Sport reckons he wants to spend the second half of the season at Barca as a springboard for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

City’s assistant manager, Mark Bowen, has said the club want to hold on to him but made it clear he will have to fight for his place in the side when he returns from injury. He has been sidelined since August with a stress fracture and Craig Bellamy has impressed on the left wing in his absence.

“Robi is one of those players who will always be surrounded by rumour and speculation,” Bowen said on the club’s website .

Guardiola is known for his man-management skills but his decision to sell Samuel Eto’o showed he is ready to stand up to anyone who threatens dressing-room harmony.

With France forward Thierry Henry out of sorts, Robinho could be deployed on the left wing to create a formidable forward line with Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Argentina forward Lionel Messi.

El Mundo Deportivo said Henry was open to returning to England and could form part of a swap deal.

Sporting director Txiki Begiristain has said Barca are looking to strengthen their squad in the January transfer window.

“He (Robinho) is a very interesting footballer and could play (for us) in the Champions League,” he told Sport.

The paper has rowed back somewhat from their banner headline on Saturday of “Robinho loan deal in January” to Thursday’s “He wants to come to Barca” but the prospect of Robinho, Ibrahimovic and Messi tearing defences apart is a mouthwatering one.

PHOTO: Brazil’s Robinho stands of the field before the World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match against Argentina in Rosario, September 5, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

There is nothing new about putting expensively assembled football teams into the hands of former players with glorious on-field pasts and little coaching experience. But I think it’s fair to say that Pep Guardiola’s remarkable success in his maiden season in the Barcelona dugout contributed to AC Milan and Juventus recently appointing novice managers Leonardo and Ciro Ferrara.

Juve’s Italy defender Nicola Legrottaglie said he sees Ferrara as “the Italian response to Guardiola”. Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani, meanwhile, preferred to compare Leonardo to the precedent they set with Fabio Capello, who like the Brazilian was a club director before his 1991-96 stint in charge that produced four Serie A titles and a Champions League.

Leonardo’s apparent weakness is that he is absolutely new to coaching. Guardiola had been successful with Barcelona B before he got the first-team job at the Camp Nou. Ferrara can count on his experience at the helm of Juve’s youth team and at Marcello Lippi’s side in the Italy coaching staff, as well as the two matches he won in Serie A to clinch automatic Champions League qualification after Claudio Ranieri was sacked.

Ferrara’s challenge may be how to stamp his authority in the locker room. He now finds himself in charge of the team’s so-called senators, such as Alessandro Del Piero, Mauro Camoranesi and David Trezeguet, after playing alongside them before retiring in 2005. This could complicate matters if he wants to drop one of his old team mates. But if he is seen to favour them it could create rifts.

It might be easier for Leonardo to be the tough guy when necessary as, although he is younger than Ferrara, his playing days are further behind him.

Lippi, however, is confident Ferrara has what it takes to overcome these hurdles: “He has the charisma, personality, intelligence, wisdom and charm to establish a relationship with top level professionals and construct something important with them.”

The pair’s ability to match the success of Guardiola and Capello will also depend on the raw materials the clubs give them to work with in the transfer market.

Kaka’s sale to Real Madrid should give Milan the money for much needed squad rejuvenation, while one of Leonardo’s challenges will be to restore Ronaldinho to his best so his playmaker compatriot is not missed. It will also be interesting to see if he is better than his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti at convincing the club to buy the players he wants rather than big names who are easy to land.

Ancelotti wanted someone like Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor or Palermo’s Amauri, who was snapped up by Juve, for his attack last year. Instead he ended up with Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko, both of whom had poor seasons.

Ferrara will be able to base his attack on new signing Diego and Fabio Cannavaro’s return will bolster the backline. But with Pavel Nedved gone, the Turin side still look a couple of good signings short of being able to topple Inter Milan in Serie A and go all the way in Europe.

PHOTO: AC Milan’s Leonardo poses for photographers with club chief executive Adriano Galliani (R) after replacing Carlo Ancelotti as coach, June 1, 2009. REUTERS/Paolo Bona

Eighteen years ago today, on Dec. 16 1990, a 19-year-old midfielder made his debut for Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona dream team in a Primera Liga match against Cadiz.

Pep Guardiola, who picked up a yellow card that day as the Catalans won 2-0, has come a long way since then, carving out a distinguished career both for Barca and the Spanish national side before taking over as coach at the Nou Camp from Frank Rijkaard at the end of last season.

The dapper Guardiola, who cuts a reserved yet assured figure, immediately stamped his mark on the squad, junking the under-performing Ronaldinho and the unwanted Deco, and bringing in the dynamic Daniel Alves and midfield pair Aleksandr Hleb and Seydou Keita.

He has restored the discipline, professionalism and team spirit to the club and the results are there for all to see: a lead of eight points at the top of the table, 46 goals in 15 matches with only nine conceded and, best of all, a 12-point advantage over champions Real Madrid.

In their last three league matches, Barca have dismissed three of their closest rivals with uncanny ease — 3-0 at Sevilla, 4-0 at home to Valencia and 2-0 in Saturday’s “Clasico” at the Nou Camp against Real Madrid.

This without the creative midfield talents of Spain international Andres Iniesta, who has been out for six weeks with a thigh strain but may return as soon as Sunday’s match at Villarreal.

After such an explosive start to the season, and with confidence and expectations sky high, anything but a Champions League, Primera Liga and King’s Cup treble would surely be a disappointment.

PHOTO: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola smiles during the news conference at the Nou Camp Dec. 12, 2008. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

After a second consecutive season without any silverware — and a humiliating 4-1 drubbing by arch-rivals by Real Madrid into the bargain – Barcelona have tried to stem the rising tide of criticism of the club by announcing that former club captain Pep Guardiola is to take charge of the team at the end of the season.

It’s quite a gamble.

Over the past two seasons, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Marco van Basten, Juande Ramos and Ernesto Valverde have all been mentioned as possible replacements for Rijkaard, but the club have rejected the tried and tested contenders and gone for old boy Guardiola, whose coaching experience amounts to nothing more than a single season in charge of the club’s reserve team Barça B.

Given his Catalan credentials and close association with Johan Cruyff’s “dream team”, the appointment of Guardiola will be welcomed by some of the Nou Camp faithful, but he is hardly the sort of figure you would expect to take charge of a big team like Barça when they’re going through a Galactico-style meltdown.

Guardiola’s appointment could be a sign that Barça now realise their attempt to pack the team with big-name players was a foolish one and that they may now try to recruit more low profile figures to replace the likes of Ronaldinho.

But it is a risky strategy to ask a coach as inexperienced as Guardiola to try and pick up the pieces, construct a new side and deliver success in his first season in the big time.

Real Madrid tried a similar approach with coaches like Mariano Garcia Remon and Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, but both ended up being turfed out as they struggled to deal with the pressure and expectation. In the end it took the experienced Fabio Capello to get the team back on their feet.

Will Guardiola prove the sceptics wrong and make a success of his first major coaching job? He’ll need time to do it, and that may not be available. Maybe it’s a healthy sign that the club has gone for a former player, hungry to make his name in coaching. Or is it a case of being too scared to appoint a coach like Mourinho, who might be too headstrong and independent? Give is your thoughts in the comments below.

FILE PHOTO: Pep Guardiola during his presentation as Barcelona B team coach in 2007. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino