Sevilla Snap Up New Litmanen

The Finnish forward has been labelled the new Jari Litmanen and he has become a regular in the Kooteepee side after rising to prominence at international level.

Monchi, the Andalucian outfit's sporting director, opted to make his move in order to head off interest from other teams and has won the 17-year-old's signature.

Rather than pay a large transfer fee, Sevilla have included a number of clauses that will see Kooteepee receive money for each stage of his development.

Pukki will go into Sevilla's youth team set-up in order to help him adapt without the pressures of playing at a very high level while he settles into his new surroundings.

Jiménez Left With Just One Striker

Sevilla travel to play Athletic Bilbao with a very weakened front line after Frédéric Kanoute and Arouna Koné are with their national teams, Luis Fabiano is suspended and now Kerzhakov is injured.

The coach is preparing a new look side and admitted that he maybe forced to move a midfielder up to support Ernesto Chevantón in attack.

"We only have Chevantón to play up front and will have to bring in a youth player or two," he explained.

"With so many absences we had just 19 players, but now we have even more doubts due to this last-minute setback.

"I am someone who believes that the system we have works very well with the players that we have, but things are very different now to when everyone is available.

"We need to be resourceful and Renato could play just behind the front striker."

Looking ahead to the Athletic encounter, Jiménez admitted that he knows the opposition will be pleased that he has such a selection headache.

"The fact that we do not have Kanouté or Luis Fabiano would come as a relief to anyone that plays against us," he continued.

"They do play a direct game. We will have to prepare a strategy to counter it.

"We have to find a team that will be able to compete and play on the break, without losing our identity.

Jiménez Looks For Victory Over Barca

Jiménez arrived at the press conference this afternoon in fighting mood ahead of Sevilla's Spanish Cup tie with Barcelona, stating that Frank Rijkaard's side will have to be wary of the threat that Sevilla will pose to them, especially at the Sánchez Pizjuán on Wednesday evening.

"We know that we may struggle in Barcelona, but they will know that Sevilla is a dangerous opponent, especially over the two leg," he told the gathered press.

"To eliminate them is very attractive for us and if both sides were at full strength, this would be the sort of tie that would be fitting for the final of the competition."

However, Jiménez was quick to state that his side will not be a full capacity, due to the absences of Seydou Keita, Fredi Kanouté and Arounda Koné, who have already joined up with their respective nations ahead of the African Cup of Nations, despite Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona and Cameroon supposedly being available for the tie.

"Cameroon allows that favor, in inverted commas, for him to stay with Barcelona although I believe that it would have to be an obligation. For Sevilla, Mali did not allow us to keep two players (Keita and Kanouté) who are very important to us.

"But it is not necessary to lament this, because it is what it is. There is no equality of rules in respect to the callups, which have weakened the competition, but we must came together as a group and demonstrate that we have the players to compensate for these absences. They are, however, three important losses."

Confidence is high in the Sevilla dressing room at the moment and Jiménez confirmed that the players are desperate to defend the trophy that they won last season.

"The players know of the importance of this game, first to defend the title, second because it is Barcelona and third because we are conscious that this type of competition can give you massive momentum.

"If we want to reach the final we must eliminate Barcelona," he concluded.

Sevilla Without Kanouté Or Keita For Barça Visit

The Andalucian outfit held negotiations with Mali after requesting that the dup be allowed to join up with the national squad after the game, but that was rejected.

Kanouté and Keita jetted out to start preparations for the African Cup of Nations on Tuesday after hearing the news that they would not be able to stay behind.

Mali are using the United Arab Emirates as their base before heading to the championships and coach, François Jodar, wants all his player present.

Real Madrid were forced to allow Mahamadou Diarrá to go as well and he will miss the Copa del Rey meeting with Real Mallorca on Thursday.

Barcelona have already seen Touré Yaya leave to play for the Ivory Coast, but Samuel Eto'o has been told that he does not have to join the Cameroon squad until next week.

The striker will be available for the trip to Sevilla and will also be able to play in the league game against Real Murcia at the weekend.