So Now He’s Staying?!?

By: Cesar | June 19th, 2009

Things move quickly when you’re a Valencia CF fan!

One day we’re lamenting the sale of star striker David Villa, the next we’re hearing that Villa’s not going anywhere …

Unreal. Unbelievable.

Here’s the caveat: If President Manuel Llorente gets a big offer, he’s gone.

Something tells me this isn’t the final twist in the David Villa soap opera. Something else tells me we’ve probably seen the last of Villa in a VCF kit, one way or the other.

As Llorente said, “I can’t say that if a huge scandalous offer came in we won’t sell, but I wanted to put an end to the rumors. We have never been auctioning nor offering the player.”

Ok, an end to the rumors. But do we really believe this will quiet all the voices? I highly doubt that.

If anything, this will intensify the gossiping. Will Villa be happy staying at VCF?
What if Madrid make a higher bid?
What if Barca make a higher bid?
Was Villa’s ambiguous decision from a few days ago not to be sold and to stay at VCF?
Maybe he really doesn’t want to go and that’s why his sale was stopped?
And on and on …

We can already see that Villa’s agent, Jose Luis Tamargo, isn’t a happy man. Of course he isn’t. He just lost his commission on the transfer. But still, read his statement.

“Valencia, in the form of Javier Gomez and Manuel Llorente told me, as the agent of David Villa, that he was available. They said we had to sell because of the financial situation of the club and told me the conditions to finalize a deal. David has always been committed to the club during all the economic problems but as he is a world class player, we received offers from four clubs,” MARCA quote him as saying.

“Now, Valencia have contradicted things because they have said they do not want to sell the player after, as you know, holding negotiations with three of the four clubs. They are putting us in a very unpleasant situation and it is good for nobody. One must remember that David has always said he is happy to stay with Valencia.

“This is a situation caused by Valencia, mainly by Javier Gomez and Manuel Llorente, which has forced us to leave the market with our tails between our legs. It is a very bad situation, one has to think about the damage that is being done not only to Valencia but also to David Villa, and bear in mind the worst thing is that he is away at the Confederations Cup with Spain. It is very sad.”

I don’t know … I’m really confused about this all.

One day he’s off to Madrid. The next he’s staying.

What does Villa think? Is he willing to ride this out with us? Or will he be a malcontent and a locker room cancer?

And what does this mean about the rest of the squad? Does this mean we’re selling other guys like Mata and Pablo? Joaquin and Silva? Who stays and who goes?

Also, will we have enough money to buy new players? Will this stifle our summer transfer scouting and spending?

There’s so much to be read into today’s VCF decision.

Sure, it’s great that we’re keeping the world’s most on-form striker.

But now what?

“Valencia is a strong club and needs these types of players,” Llorente said. “Fans should know we want a team that can compete at the highest level.”

Sounds great to me … but where’s the planning and vision for this club?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m confused by today’s news. I should be giddy and doing cart wheels.

I just have a strange feeling that this Villa transfer soap opera is very far from being over and done with.

In other words, don’t buy Villa’s 2009/10 VCF kit just yet …

Stay tuned.

By the way, interesting analysis (in spanish) in MARCA comparing this sudden move to Gaizka Mendieta’s failed Madrid transfer of 2001. Take a look.