The days of David Villa on the Barcelona squad seem to be numbered, and a number of Premier League teams (and others around the continent) are interested in his services. For now, it looks like Tottenham might be the closest team to obtaining him.
According to Daily Mail and the Mirror Spurs have been in contact with Barcelona over the chance to sign Villa for a while now and are getting closer and closer to completing the deal. They’ve been in flux over their striker situation this season: Completely disappointed with Emmanuel Adebayor and always feeling Jermain Defoe is far from enough.
Returning from about six months away from the soccer pitch due to an injury, Villa, one of the most prolific scorers in Spain over the last decade, had a season he would like to forget. He did score 15 times for Barcelona in all competitions, helping them reach another Champions League semifinal and win their fourth league title in five years (his second with the club), but he had long scoring droughts and spells of hardly getting any time on the pitch.
Some said it was Tito Vilanova who didn’t appreciate him, or Lionel Messi having some sort of fight with the player, leading to a demotion in status. But it’s probably simply age, recovery and discontent all blending together for a disappointing campaign on an individual level for any forward on the team not named Lionel Messi.
Villa, 31, isn’t going to come cheaply. Barcelona signed him for €40 million three years ago, and will not be looking to sell him for anything less than £12 million, which Spurs are trying to reduce a bit. Villa himself would welcome any opportunity to get some first team football in a top league, especially after the arrival of Neymar has been announced.