David Villa has wanted to leave Barcelona for months now. The competition up front, together with his lack of confidence after the terrible injury he suffered in December 2011 in the Club World Cup left him feeling out of sorts and ended up with him pushing to to leave the Camp Nou this summer, one year before his contract finishes. If he had seen out his deal he would have become the second highest earner at the club, with only Messi taking home more wages. Villa was signed from Valencia by Laporta in the summer of 2009, for 40 million euros, and the player agreed to a deal whereby he would earn progressively more every season. In the final year of the contract he was set to earn 12 million euros; a major amount for the club, which they will be relieved not to have to pay with the player’s departure for Atlético.
The offer from Atlético Madrid wasn’t the only one Barcelona received for the player. Arsenal were keen, though their interest waned. André Villas-Boas could also see a place for the player at Tottenham, but the London club were offering less than 2.5 million euros, half of what Atlético ended up paying.
For Villa the move is strategic. He gets to stay in la Liga, where Del Bosque can most easily see him, and he can continue to try and impress the Spanish coach in his hope of being called up for more games with the national side. He didn’t have a good Confederations Cup, scoring just three goals against Tahiti, but he wants to go back to Brazil next summer, having spent the season scoring goals a plenty for Atletico and convinced it was the right move to leave the Camp Nou one year before his contract finished.
