Villa staying put, for now

David Villa has been one of the hottest properties in Europe for some time now and it seemed almost inevitable Valencia would have to cash in on their star man due to their 450million euro debt. The talented hitman had stated his desire to stay in Spain, which effectively ruled out everyone bar Real Madrid and it looked as if he was heading for the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, Real director Jorge Valdano has revealed the Spanish giants are no longer pursuing the striker as Valencia don’t want him to go.

This is what Valdano had to say: “The situation with Villa is 100 per cent finished,

“There was a call from president to president in which Valencia told us that Villa was not for sale.

“We understand that we need to go for an alternative and that is what we are working on.”

In terms of world football and Villa’s career I can’t help but think this is a bit of a shame. As big a club as Los Che are they’re not in the Champions League and have no money to invest in squad improvements. They’re willing to let their other stars leave but not Villa, and you have to wonder what success they can achieve by pinning all their hopes on one man, no matter how good he is.

His value is currently thought to be around the 60m euro mark. Without the stage of Champions League football to perform on I’m not sure how this figure is likely to rise. The player himself has described how hard the transfer speculation has been but until the transfer window closes or he is actually sold I can’t see the rumours dying down any time soon.

To put Valecia’s chances of success next season in perspective, they’re currently a whopping 60/1 to lift the title next season with the current La Liga betting odds and it is a figure that will only rise as Real and Barca continue to build their squads. The simple fact of the matter is their current side didn’t get into the Champions League last season, and with no money to add to the squad I wouldn’t go backing them to qualify for the competition next year with my own La Liga betting.

The 27-year-old is one of the best strikers in the world and he needs a suitable stage to perform on. It could be a blessing in disguise for the Spanish national squad at the World Cup next summer as he will have had a less strenuous season without Champions League football but this does not help the player himself.

I feel for Valencia as a club, it must hurt to be so much in debt and see Real Madrid bankrolled to splash obscene amounts of money around. However, the sale of Villa would free up some of their debt and perhaps allow them to bring in a few new faces as well. As good as Villa is he cannot carry a team in La Liga and it would be better for both club and player if he was allowed to depart the Mestalla.

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