Keeper will not be allowed to leave Spain after all.
Arsenal’s hopes of signing highly-regarded FC Barcelona No 1 Victor Valdes at the end of the season have been dealt a massive blow after the Catalans announced that they will not be selling the player this summer, says the Daily Mirror.
The experienced Spain international shocked the world of football earlier this year when he confirmed that he would not be signing a contract extension with the La Liga giants, with Valdes’s current deal with Barca due to run out next summer.
As a result, it was generally assumed that the Spaniards would sell the shot stopper at the end of the season rather than risk losing him for free in 2014, with the 31-year-old expected to fetch somewhere in the region of between £15 million and £20m on the open market, with Arsenal said to be waiting in the wings ready to pounce.
However, it looks like the North Londoners will now have to prolong their long-running search for a new goalkeeper until at least next summer if they want Valdes to be that man.
“As we prioritise sporting aspects, we prefer to run out the contract until June 2014 rather than sell him this summer,” said Barca vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
COMMENTS