Thursday, 14th November, 2013
Atletico Madrid striker David Villa has revealed he had been torn between signing for either of La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona a year before he joined the latter.
Villa, an academy product of Real Sporting de Gijon, had been plying his trade with Valencia in 2009 when heavy interest came from both Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Villa ended up joining Pep Guardiola's side though he switched to Atletico this summer despite links with Tottenham Hotspur.
His game time at Barcelona had started to dip and the move to Atletico has revived the Spaniard, who has already scored six times in La Liga this season.
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"In the summer of 2009, I was very close to signing for Madrid and Barcelona", Villa told Spanish daily Sport.
"I've been pretty close to signing for several teams throughout my career since leaving Sporting."
Villa may have left Barcelona for "the lowest possible price" – a slight indication of his decreasing sporting value to the Catalan club – but the forward does not harbour any ill will towards his former employers.
"They behaved very well with me", Villa added. "When I did not enjoy my time there, there were offers and they helped me leave in the way that I wanted.
"I have nothing against them. On the contrary, I thank them for all the love that I got there."
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