[2008] Deal with Silva

this post was published exactly one year ago:


Spanish local newspaper Las Provincias claims that Barcelona has reached a principal agreement with Valencia left winger and Spanish international David Silva (22).

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain met with Amadeo Rengel, the agent of the player, on Wednesday night and the deal was closed. Barcelona would pay Silva a year salary of 2,2 million euro°, the double of what the player is currently earning.

Barcelona will now have to contact Valecia with a first formal offer. Rengel would possibly act as go-between in the negotiations between the two clubs. Catalan sports papers Sport and El Mundo Deportivo claim that Barcelona wants to close the deal with Valencia as soon as possible because Silva is expected to play a good Euro 2008, which could make other teams join the race and lead to a price increase.

Valencia nevertheless does not seem to be in a hurry. And despite the rumours about the club having financial problems,Valencia does not want to let players go on the cheap. Valencia sports director Juan Sánchez said yesterday to journalists that the club did not yet receive an offer for Silva: "If an offer comes in, we'll look at it. If David would have to leave one day, an important fee will have to be paid."

Valencia chief executive Jesús Wollstein even went a step further today: "David Silva is a key player for our project and is untransferable." This was confirmed by Valencia president Agustín Morera who hopes Silva will end his career at Valencia but added that all offers will be looked at by the sports director and the manager.

Negotiations are nevertheless expected to start in the coming days with a first offer by Barcelona. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that the first bid would be 15 million euro°, with that proposal probably being raised to 18 million euro°. Valencia would consider 20 million euro° as being an absolute minimum.

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona does not want to pay more than 20 million euro°. Madrid sports tabloid Marca claims that Barcelona has already made an informal offer of 20 million euro°, but that the answer from the entourage of Valencia was negative.

Silva has a buyout clause of 90 million euro°. Las Provincias claims that Valencia would nevertheless be ready to let the player go for a transfer fee between 35 and 40 million euro°, Madrid sports tabloid As talks about 35 million euro°.


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