ATLETICO DE MADRID RETAKES THE DAVID VILLA SIGNING OPTION

With the departure of striker Radamel Falcao to Monaco, Atletico de Madrid needs a replacement with goal scoring guarantees. Coach Diego Simeone wishes to make an improvement on last seasons Liga third placed squad & be highly competitive in this years Champions League. The Argentine Coach has already voiced his unhappiness with Atletico de Madrid Directives as he watches how rivals Real Madrid & FC Barcelona have already began incorporating new players,  & Atletico has as yet signed the players that he wishes. Amongst those are a midfielder who he puts as priority in Diego Ribas of Wolfsberg & a forward, a class Striker.

The commented candidates are:

• Alvaro Negredo ( Sevilla FC )
• Roberto Soldado ( Valencia CF )
• Demba Ba ( Chelsea FC)
• Edin Dzeko  (Manchester City )

The first - Alvaro Negredo - has been provisionally discarded as Sevilla FC wishes 25M€ to which Atletico can´t offer. The second - Roberto Soldado - has a contract release clause of 30M€ which is far out of reach. The last two - Ba & Dzeko - remain economical options to date.

However, the option of FC Barcelona & Spanish International David Villa is back in the realm of possibilities. Although English Club Tottenham Hotspurs is keen to sign Villa, the Barça forward wants to study the Atletico option. According to Spanish Sports daily "Mundo Deportivo", Atletico Directives meet with Villa last Thursday & FC Barcelona will discuss this further with Atletico de Madrid this week.

The obstacles are the high salary of David Villa which is around 11M€ ( Gross ) per season & the transfer figure from FC Barcelona which is around 15M€. This last, the transfer fee could be negotiated downward thus lowering the barriers somewhat for Atletico de Madrid. 

One may think that with the selling of Falcao to Monaco for around 60-65M€ that this gives Atletico de Madrid enough money for big named players. The reality is that Atletico de Madrid has a huge debt with the Spanish Tax Office & must pay around 100M€ yearly which squeezes their resource & limits their area of action. This is why Champions League participation - & playing within constantly - is the prime objective of the Club as to help find an alternative source of income to pay its debts & be able to grow in the future.

There may be further news this week perhaps on whether Atletico de Madrid, FC Barcelona & David Villa can all find a suitable formula. Stay tuned!

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