<http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/club-reach-deal-in-principal-to-sell-david-villa-to-atletico-madrid>

For a 5.000.000 Euro fee, Barcelona will retain 50% of Villa's rights. There has yet to be a personal agreement between Villa and Atletico, but the clubs have done their business. :)

Ironic that you should make a post about this, because I just got a notification saying that Tottenham had agreed personal terms with David Villa :o

@Nanda

Whaaaaaat? :O

This news came out just recently. And it seems like a logical move for me from Simeone. But two things to take away are.

1. Tottenham may have agreed on PERSONAL terms with Villa, but not with Barcelona. (Villa prefers a move to England)

2. Atletico and Barcelona have struck a deal, but Atletico have not spoken to Villa yet.

HAHA no villa for spurs :)
@nanda fcbarcelona.com > any other source

I take nothing for granted these days until I see a player holding up the shirt at the training ground. ;)

Apparently. its 2 Mil in the first year, then 2 Mil in the second and 1 Mil if he's still playing for them in 2015-16. Amazing deal for Atleti. Though I am surprised Arsenal/Spurs didn't swoop in at this price. Probably Villa wanted to stay in Spain.

@Fed: Considering Barcelona were reported to be holding out for 12m from Spurs, I think this has a lot more to do with politics than anything the player wanted. 5m is half the price we were offering, so I smell something fishy. :p

Why, its perfectly reasonable he'd want to stay. When you are 30 year old and well settled in a country, you may not want to move to another country. It could be politics too, what do I know.

@Fred

No, Villa expressed his desire to play in England multiple times. Hence, the rumors that he's agreed on PERSONAL terms with Spurs, but Barcelona's politics force him to stay in Spain.

I was looking forward seeing Villa in premier league ... too bad..

€5m... for David Villa? THAT HAS TO BE THE STEAL OF THE YEAR!!!!!

1-Last jan. Arsenal offered Barcelona a good deal circa £11m to Barcelona for David Villa as they were desparate for a striker (Giroud wasn't clinical enough, Poldi wasn't fit... and that left Gervinho....). David Villa admitted publicly that he spoke with Cesc who convinced him he'd enjoy it there, and he agreed personal terms with Arsenal. Barcelona blocked the move citing the fact that they felt they needed a back up striker to ensure their progression in the CL and not have any hiccups in winning La Liga. They told Arsenal they'd have to wait till the summer. Arsenal weren't impressed and told them it was a take it or leave it deal. Barca took the financial hit in order to esnure footballing glory.

2- This summer rumours were being rehashed that Arsenal were once again in for Villa despite those closest to the club saying that he was no longer a target. Arsenal stuck to their word and didn't go back in for him...

3- That left 2 additonal parties interested: Atletico Madrid & Spurs links were simultaneously growing stronger. I cannot confirm whether or not an official bid for him was ever put forward but many Barcelona based journos said AVB was keen on him, especially as he wanted to buy more than 1 striker and saw Villa as a reliable second striker for a decent price. Even though villa said he wanted to try out the PL and was looking forward to London, I think the dealbreaker was the ack of CL (and the fact that it was Spurs.... sorry I had to :)

4- In the end, David villa would've cost more for SPurs and would've had very high wages. he is 32 now and has lost a bit of pace so perhaps Spurs should feel he did them a favour. But for €5m, Atletico got a superb deal.

That's my understanding of the situation.

he chose CL over EL and to me he chose a better club but thats just my opinion

@Foot: Oh I agree; I've never been totally sold on this being a good idea for us, even though of course the mind's eyes can conjure all manner of potential success stories. ;) The fact that they let him go for less than half of what they desired from the PL clubs tells you that Villa had nothing to do with the decision-making process at all -- Barcelona wouldn't be doing this unless they are getting something subtle out of it.

Personally, it's almost a relief to have the speculation end. On to our real striker signings!

Like maybe Soldado, though that's another one which just doesn't seem 'right' for us, you know?

bring the 30 mil then...

Meh. He's not worth it.

What is it about this new trend of valuing players by their buy-out clauses?

its actually a bit much i gotta say but then again Bale is not worth more than 50..

if the club and players says they wont leave i value the player on a buyout clause

I think we rejeted a bid on close to 30 mil from u last year

Maybe not. Who knows? All I know is: he's staying, which is what we want, far more than the 50m+. :)

As for Soldado, our bid was about 17m pounds (20m euros), which is probably about fair. Sure, if Valencia don't want to sell, then that's the end of it, but I hope for their sake they're not just holding out for better offers....

@Dynastian

David Villa actually prefers a move to Atletico Madrid. Just because he agreed on personal terms with another club, it doesn't mean he prefers it over another.

The deal was 2.1m the first year, another 2m if he stays until 2015, and another 1m if he stays till 2016. If Atletico decide to sell him, Barca get 50% of the transfer.

Source: twitter.com/barcastuff

@tdot

Maybe not, but he HAS expressed desire to play in England.

@tdot: see, claiming that he prefers X or Y is as valid as each other. Since, as Dynast says, there were numerous reports (both in Spain and England) saying that his preference was to move to the PL, and none that I can find saying that he'd prefer to move to another Spanish side, and since the price is much less than what Barca were holding out for from Spurs (and Arsenal)...

...yeah. Something is fishy. Ah well. Hope he does well for them.