Barca sign Villa for $49.7 million
Barcelona have moved swiftly to reinforce their squad, snapping up Spain striker David Villa from Valencia for 40 million euros ($49.7 million) on Wednesday, three days after winning a second consecutive La Liga title.
After a Valencia board meeting, president Manuel Llorente said they had accepted Barca’s offer for the prized striker, who scored 21 league goals last season to finish his fifth consecutive campaign as the club’s top-scorer.
“There was a big offer from England that was not from Chelsea but Barcelona’s was the best for us and the footballer,” Llorente told a news conference at the Mestalla, without specifying which Premier League club had made a bid.
“Villa has delivered a lot (to Valencia) and he deserves this chance,” he added.
The 28-year-old is Spain’s second-highest scorer with 36 goals from 55 matches, eight short of the record held by Real Madrid striker Raul, and he will be spearheading Spain’s World Cup campaign in South Africa next month.
Barcelona confirmed the deal in a statement on their website (www.fcbarcelona.com), saying Villa would sign a four-year contract with an option for one more year.
The player, who Barca said “guaranteed goals”, will travel to the Catalan capital on Thursday and will take a medical before being presented on Friday.
Nicknamed “el guaje” (the kid), Villa will join a formidable Barca forward line that already includes La Liga’s leading marksman Lionel Messi, Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Spaniards Pedro and Bojan Krkic.
France striker Thierry Henry spent most of last season on the bench and is expected to move on.
Barca sporting director Txiki Begiristain told the club’s TV channel on Wednesday Villa was a similar player to Messi in that he could play as a centre forward or drift in from the right wing into goal-scoring positions. “He has the profile of a player who makes very good diagonal runs and moves very well into space,” Begiristain said.
— Reuters
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