Arsenal Dealt Blow In David Villa Pursuit

With the January transfer window now open for business we’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all the latest transfer gossip. Today,  Arsenal may have to wait to land David Villa.

Bad news Gooners as it looks like Arsenal will have to wait until the summer to try and sign David Villa with the striker set to remain in Spain for the birth of his son, according to the Daily Star.

The report claims that the 31-year-old wants to leave Barcelona and is keen on joining the Gunners but has decided to see out the season in La Liga because his wife Patricia is due to give birth next month.

An apparent ‘source’ told the newspaper:

“His wife is said to be expecting a boy in ­February, their third child. David doesn’t want to be away during that time so a move now looks very unlikely,”

“But David does want to leave – he is frustrated and a little sad, too. His time here hasn’t been the best.”

The Star claim the Catalans have told us it will take £16m to sign Villa but Arsene Wenger – always one to spot a bargain – is understood to be confident he can land the former Valencia man in a cut-price deal if he stays patient until the summer.

Villa’s quality is undoubted – he’s Spain’s all-time leading goal-scorer after all and has scored 274 goals in 555 appearances during his illustrious career. However, he’s struggled to force his way back into Barcelona’s first team plans after recovering from a leg break leading to question marks over his future.

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I’d have him at Arsenal in a heart-beat and we could do with him during the second half of the season, but unfortunately it seems like we’ll have to wait until the summer to try and lure him to north London. The problem is, come the summer I wouldn’t be surprised to see several other clubs sniffing around and we could end up missing out entirely.

Do Gooners want Villa at Arsenal? Should we wait until the summer or sign another striker this month? Get involved in the comments section below.