It appears that Barcelona has pulled ahead in the race to sign Liverpool star Javier Mascherano. For the past few weeks it seemed that Inter would be the club to sign the Argentina standout, but Barcelona has recently upped their commitments after Yaya Toure was shipped off to Manchester City.

            Mascherano, if sent to Inter, would play for his old coach, Rafael Benitez. But Barcelona, under new president Sandro Rosell seem more interested in signing Mascherano, and coach Pep Guardiola is also passionate about the deal to fill the hole in the midfield left by Toure.

            It is not yet certain that Mascherano will even leave the Premiere League, but it is anticipated that Liverpool will sell some of their big names after a disappointing campaign in 2009 in which they failed to qualify for the Champions League. 

source: goal.com