Transfer Talk: Goodbye Villa?

We've been stalling on reporting this because we're somehow hoping that something will still happen and signing Villa is still possible. But after all the recent reports, it looks like we can't ignore it any longer... Ibrahimovic's arrival in Barcelona seems inevitable.

Valencian sources claim that Villa has decided to stay in Barcelona. Catalan sources claim that Eto'o has agreed to join Inter, that the deal will be closed tomorrow and everthing is set. Ibrahimovic is quoted to say: "It's time to move on, I want to win the Champions League".

And it makes us feel just downright disappointed. If Ibra is to join Barca, we may as well try to accept it... but we're finding it hard to do so.

We know there are many fans out there who would welcome Ibrahimovic and see him as a good option for the club. Thoughts expressed on this blog are a personal opinion and nothing more; we simply happen to favor Villa. We hold no contempt for Ibra, actually, our difficulty in accepting this move is really about our huge preference for Villa, it hasn't got much to do with Ibra himself.

We wouldn't be so against signing Ibra, if not for the fact that Barca was so close to obtaining Villa, and simply gave up on him like that. Villa was by no means a closed door; Barca simply didn't want to pay just a little bit more. It's annoying that this transfer was spoiled because of a few million euros, when paying them is really not that big a deal for Barca - especially after Villa's offer to cut his salary.

Why did the club not take him up on that? Why did they turn a blind eye to this man's incredible effort to join the club, turn around and stab him in the back after leading to believe they were that eager to sign him? Villa has destroyed his relationship with Llorente in his attempts to get the president to let him sign for Barca... and for nothing. Now he's stuck on Valencia for another season, sure to be an awful one for him.

As for which player would be more suited to Barca, as a team, Villa or Ibra, we stand by Villa, for reasons that are obvious. Villa would fit in better, both on and off the pitch. He is better suited to Barca's style and has a lot of experience playing in the Spanish Liga. He speaks the language, is on great terms with many of Barca's players who are his compatriots on the Spanish national team and, most importantly, he is clearly unbelievably eager, anxious even, to join Barca.

Whereas Ibra? Joining Barca is an option that has been newly opened for him. It's not something he's been yearning for, as Villa has for a while, nor something he's even been thinking about. Yes, he was quick to get excited about this move, but for what reasons? Because, as he said, he wants to win the Champions League?

So basically he wants to join Barca after our treble victory, after seeing that we're a winning team. Would he have been this eager a year ago? We doubt it. Looks like the move is more about winning to him, when it should be about Barca. Clearly the type of player who would get fed up after a crappy season and want to leave, and not one who would stick with the team through thick and thin because it's his team.

Ibrahimovic is a great player, we've never denied it. But he's not Barca's type. He could never fit in with the team as well as Villa would. And he doesn't speak Spanish either. Communication is key; he'll never be able to click with the team, not right away at least, not until he can speak the language well. Lack of communication is the reason Hleb flopped once he came to Barca.

And say what you will, it can't be denied that Ibrahimovic is a player with an ego. He's arrogant. Is that the type of player we want on Barca? Some have argued that if Pep could tame Eto'o, with his attitude problems, he can surely handle Ibra. But why should we have to settle for a player that must be "tamed", when we can have the humble Villa with his earnest passion for Barca? Why are we getting rid of Eto'o in the first place? To replace him with another player who'll give us all headaches?

For all Laporta's talk about how different Barca are from Real Madrid, signing Ibrahimovic - the top class, arrogant striker with the huge transfer fee - is not much different than signing Cristiano Ronaldo. The way he's being glorified in the Catalan media, too, is sickening. It's Madrid and Ronaldo all over again.

Ibrahimovic claims he's willing to earn a salary of 7.5 million at Barca, lower than what he earned at Inter, because the club don't want any player to be paid higher than Messi. Some will say that that's a wonderful gesture from him, and shows how much he wants Barca.

Not really. It's not generosity, his willingness to settle for that. It's what's expected of him! Refusal to accept the lower salary would make him even more of an arrogant prick - rating himself above Messi who is, without argument, the best player in the world.

You want an example of willingness and unquestionable eagerness to join the club? Villa's humble offer to cut his Barca salary from 7.5 to 5.5 to help fund his own transfer. That makes him worth any price.

And again, signing Villa would be much more honorable a move for Barca. We've said this before, and listed our reasons, read it here.

The only explanation we can come up with, as to why Barca would prefer the Ibra deal, is because they really want to be rid of Eto'o. This way, they trade him off and sign a replacement, all in the same transaction. Signing Villa would still leave them with Eto'o to deal with.

But so what? We see it this way: If Eto'o can't be sold in this transfer window, let him stay. Sign Villa, and that way we'll have two great strikers. They can both be played for the first half of the season, via rotation, which would give Villa time to fully get the hang of things around Barca, instead of throwing the entire daunting responsibility of starting striker at him from the very beginning. Then, come winter transfer window, Villa will be ready to take over from Eto'o, who could then be sold.

This is how we see things. But the way things are looking, we may as well be yearning for the moon. We just wish things could have been different, and we could see Villa join Barca, and not Ibra.