Barcelona President Joan Laporta said on Thursday that he wants to bring Valencia striker David Villa to his club.
Villa is thought to have already agreed personal terms with the current Primera Liga and European champions, although the two clubs have yet to reach agreement over his price, which would be in the region of 50 million euros.
With Real Madrid having bought Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema, Barcelona has to move soon or risk being eclipsed in the transfer market by its biggest rivals.
"Villa knows that we want to strengthen our attack and he is one of our targets and that we really like him," Laporta told radio station Cadena Cope on Thursday.
However, despite the rumors that Villa and the club had reached an agreement over his conditions, Laporta was reluctant to give too many details away.
"In the case of Villa, it would not be prudent to reveal how the negotiations are going," he said.
Laporta also refused to rule out a move to sign Arsenal captain Cesc Fabrigas, a player who began his career in the Barcelona youth system before moving to England.
"Cesc has Barcelona in his DNA and the way I understand it, he should play here one day. He is the leader at Arsenal, he's a player that the technical staff, coach and I all like," said Laporta.
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2009)
