David Villa has been linked with a move to Arsenal during this transfer window, but he is not going anywhere according to Barcelona president Sandro Rosell.
“I absolutely reject the notion that David Villa could leave Barcelona this winter,” Rosell was quoted as saying by Sport.
“David is one of our players and we need him in the second half of the season.”
While a January move was always unlikely, I expect Villa to go to England or Italy this summer. The 31-year-old has 18-months left on his current contract and is not expected to sign a new deal. This Barca will be forced to sell him in the summer, or risk losing him for free in 2014.
Villa has became extremely unhappy this season as he has fallen out of favor with new Barca coach Tito Vilanova and has seen his place in the Barcelona lineup taken by Pedro. Villa has not started in Barcelona’s last six matches and his last start was almost two months ago on 17th November against Zaragoza.
Also, Villa prefers to play down the middle, and that position at Barcelona is taken by some guy called Mess. So Villa, when he does play, finds himself shifted out to the left.