David Villa will not be playing in the Premier League this season.
Instead, the 31 year old striker will be taking his talents to Madrid. Atletico Madrid, that is.
Los Colchoneros?and Barcelona reached an agreement in principle earlier today that will see Villa head to Spain?s capital on a deal that could cost around ?4.4 million ($6.6m).
Atletico will pay Barcelona??1.8 million ($2.7m) this season,??1.7 million ($2.5m) more if Villa stays at Atletico in 2014-15, and??900k ($1.4m) if he extends his contract through 2015-16.
In addition, Barca will retain the rights to 50% of any future transfer on Villa.
Villa will arrive at the Vicente Calderon after three seasons at Barcelona where he scored 33 La Liga goals over the course of 67 appearances. The striker signed for Barca in a ?35 million ($52.3m) deal from Valencia, where he spent five seasons scoring?108 goals in 166 league games. Before then Villa enjoyed prolific spells Real Zaragoza and Sporting Gijon.
Atletico will look for Villa to pick up for the loss of Radamel Falcao, who was sold to AS Monaco earlier this summer for a fee of ?50 million ($74.7m). While few expect Villa to be able to replicate Falcao?s 28 goal haul of 2012-13, snagging the Spaniard for a mere??4.4 million (if it even gets that high) is a sensational coup for a player of Villa?s ilk.
Not only does Villa remain one of La Liga?s better strikers but he arrives at Atletico with a dearth of Champions League experience, which will come in handy when the squad returns to Europe?s top club contest this fall. Plus, by negotiating such a dirt cheap fee, Diego Simeone?s side has plenty of reserves to buy more players.
One such player could be Fernando Torres.
Chelsea?have been widely rumored to be in the market for a new striker, with many believing Torres could be sold back to his boy-hood club, Atletico. If such a deal is struck it would mean the reunion of El Nino-El Guaje,?one of Spain?s most heralded goalscoring partnerships.
In the meantime, the Villa signing comes as a major blow to the striker?s main admirer, Tottenham, as well as other pursuers, Arsenal and Liverpool. Spurs balked at the notion of paying Barcelona??12 million ($17.9m) for Villa but were reportedly willing to go as high as ?10 million ($14.9m) to sign the striker.?Now, they must look elsewhere for a replacement of Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor, who reportedly could leave White Hart Lane this summer.
Pessimists will note, however, that Villa is a player who turns 32 years old in December, has no Premier League?experience and has arguably not fully recovered from the broken tibia he suffered at a?Club World Cup match against Yokohama in December 2011.
Nevertheless, it will be fun to see what kind of damage he can do in Madrid.
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