May 19, 2010
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Barcelona have signed Valencia's David Villa in the first major transfer of the
summer. The Spain striker has cost the Catalan club £34.2 million
and will move to the Nou Camp after months of speculation over his
future.
GettyImages
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Villa, Valencia's top scorer in La Liga with 21 goals, will sign
for four years and will be paid €7 million-a-season according to
Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
He had been coveted last year by both Barca and Real Madrid, but
Barcelona picked up the services of Swedish striker Zlatan
Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan in a £40 million deal which saw Samuel
Eto'o move the other way. Real opted to sign Karim Benzema
instead.
A statement on Barcelona's official website read: ''FC Barcelona
and Valencia CF closed a 40 million euro deal for Spanish striker
David Villa on Wednesday morning.
''The Spanish international is due in Barcelona on Thursday
evening and will have a medical on Friday morning. Villa will be
officially unveiled as a Barca player at 1330 in the Paris Room of
the Camp Nou. He'll then make an appearance on the Camp Nou pitch.
The stadium doors will be opened to the public.''
Once the medical is completed he will join up with fellow Spain
internationals Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique,
Pedro and Sergio Busquets, all of whom are in the World Cup
squad.
