David Villa to Barca, Chelsea, Man United or Real?

David Villa won the Euro 2008 Championships with Spain

Possibly one of the most highly sought-after players in world football, David Villa has constantly hit the headlines this summer.

He produced good performances for Spain in the Confederations Cup, scoring three goals in the competition. Yet it wasn’t only his finishing that put him on the back pages.

Throughout the duration of the tournament, Villa was subject to much speculation over where he would be playing come the start of the 2009-10 campaign.

With Valencia currently suffering from the financial downturn, they may be forced to sell their prized asset in order to balance the books.

Should they decide to do so, European champions Barcelona, Premiership winners Manchester United, FA Cup winners Chelsea and big spenders Real Madrid have all been touted as possible destinations for the 28-year-old.

Villa, who has successfully taken over the mantle from Raul of the prized number seven for Spain, hit an impressive 31 goals in 40 appearances for Valencia. ‘Los Che’ endured a torrid season, the looming prospect of relegation may have become a reality had it not been for their player nicknamed ‘The Kid’.

In his career he has a ratio of a goal every other game, and it is easy to see why the player may wish to seek a move to a bigger club. Despite the appointment of a new manager at Valencia, it may be too little too late for a club that has been under performing for the last two or three years.

It seems the probable destination would be either Barcelona or Real Madrid with reports suggesting the player wishes  to remain in Spain. Real have already spent big this summer and it would be no surprise to see Florentino Perez reach deep into his pockets once more.

Spain manager, Vincent Del Bosque, was recently quoted as saying that he would prefer to sign Valencia and Spain’s number seven over Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, were he still the manager of his old club, Real Madrid.

Real’s fiercest rivals, Barcelona, have also declared an interest in the player. A possible replacement for Samuel Eto’o should the Cameroon ace leave this summer, with Manchester City pursuing the player.

Villa would undoubtedly slot effortlessly into the Nou Camp side. With Spanish team-mates Xavi and Andres Iniesta primed to pick out Villa’s runs as they do to such devastating effect with the national team.

Should Villa decide to move to a club outside of Spain, Manchester United and Chelsea would be more than willing to pay for his services.

Manchester United’s depleted front line would welcome the addition of the electric paced Spanish forward. With money to spend from the Ronaldo transfer, the fee would surely be no object for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Didier Drogba has been heavily linked with a move to AC Milan this summer. And it appears that Villa heads the list of Carlo Ancelotti’s wanted list with Roman Abramovich willing to dig deep for his newly appointed manager.

But in another twist yesterday, Valencia maintained they have recieved no offers for the player. According to a club spokesman of the cash strapped club there has been “no offer for Villa and we don’t understand why people are insisting this.”

He added: “We want these rumours to end and that the player as well as the club are given calm to create a competitive team.”

“Villa is a player that loves this club a lot and he is very adapted to the city. He has always proved this.”