Poor Villa!

by Pablo López
for Marca



When an employee thinks that his time at a firm has ended, that he has higher objectives and that he cannot fulfil them in his current environment, when he loses his trust in his bosses, when, in short, he's not comfortable at his working place, the firm needs to make it possible for him to leave.

I'm referring, my friends, to David Villa and Valencia, but this reasoning could be used for every football player when some conditions are met:

a) that he has given his best for the team, that he has been an irreproachable professional,
b) that he will leave a considerable amount of money in the coffers of his clubs,
c) that, in effect, it's a valued player and that there are big offers for him,
d) and that, like I said, he wants to take on a new professional challenge.

It's obvious that David Villa meets all of them. But there's even more. If we put ourselves in his place, we would end up having the irrefutable feeling that, while being one of the best strikers in the world whom almost every club would want to have in their team, he could again spend one more season at a team that doesn't seem to have a clear course.

This will hurt the valencianistas but their team is adrift. And I'm not only talking about the giant debts but also about the strong feeling of improvisation, lack of leadership, deceit, lies, of "no problem, we'll solve that tomorrow". Honestly, it's no surprise that David Villa is like crazy about wanting to leave.

It's true that he signed last year a contract renewal including the corresponding economic upgrade, but that doesn't mean a lot when you're on the brink of ruin. It doesn't matter if he goes to Madrid or Barça or Milan or United, but Spain's number 7 will do the impossible to go to another place.

Taking into account that he has said several times that he doesn't want to leave Spain and that Madrid has already signed Benzema instead of him, the only real option that Villa has on the table is Barça. By god, I hope it's a tempting one.

Villa cannot offer more to Valencia. He has already given them prestige and goals. Now it's the club's turn to give him the opportuity to leave. 40 millions is a reasonable price for someone who wants to leave. Valencia has the chance to show they're a gentlemen's club. Villa deserves it...

Laporta is right

by Fernando Carreño
for Marca



It has become common to say that the transfers of Real Madrid/Florentino Pérez have overshadowed the treble of Barcelona. Some even say that nobody is talking about the treble anymore and I, as usual, don't agree.

It's we, the press, those who live from what is happening today, that have put aside the treble because there's other news now and the treble is already part of history. But although it's not explicitly mentioned, people are still talking about the treble.

Because Barça's treble, my friends, is today the reference for everything. When Florentino Pérez returns to the presidency, he finds himself in a situation in which Barcelona has won everything, including the clasicos.

That's why Real Madrid has been forced to do everything they've done so far: opening new credit lines so they could invest, signing Cristiano, signing Kaká, signing Benzema, trying to sign Villa. In the background of all these events, there's the treble. It's not mentioned, but it's there.

As Léon Gambetta told the French after having lost Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War: "Don't talk about it ever again, but always keep it in mind." Or like when Laporta said that "the reference of the whole of Madrid is Barcelona." I think that he's not wrong, but let's hope this time it won't lead to another world war.