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Barcelona vice-president Maria Bartomeu: We will not sign anyone in January, despite David Villa's injury
The Spain international broke his leg competing in the Club World Cup in Japan, but the Camp Nou executive has made it clear that no new faces will arrive in the winter
17 Dec 2011 10:32:00
By Gareth McKnight
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Barcelona vice-president Maria Bartomeu has stated that David Villa's injury will not force the Catalans to sign new players in January.
The 30-year-old striker fractured the tibia of his left leg in the 4-0 victory over Al Sadd in the Club World Cup on Thursday, and will be sidelined for five months as he looks to regain fitness.
Despite the loss of the former Valencia attacker, the European giants will not recruit any new faces in the upcoming transfer window.
"This season we have closed the door," the executive told Onda Cero.
"Things are fine; we are very happy with how the whole team has done this year, and although Villa and [Ibrahim] Afellay are injured, we have a sports philosophy that when we need players, we look to the B team," he stated.
One of the players linked with a move to the Camp Nou is Brazil international forward Neymar. Bartomeu admitted that the European champions are interested in the South American, but made clear that the club is aware of the player's bond with Santos.
"Neymar has a contract with Santos. We would try to sign him only if he decided to jump to another team, did not renew his contract with Santos, or if our coach was interested in his services," the vice-president continued.
Barcelona are currently top of La Liga on goal difference after their 3-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid last weekend, but Bartomeu knows that their arch-rivals will push them all the way for the title this season.
"There are still a lot of games left and anything can happen. Madrid have a very good team this year and it will be very competitive until the end of the season," he concluded.
The European champions face Santos in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday in their next game.
The 30-year-old striker fractured the tibia of his left leg in the 4-0 victory over Al Sadd in the Club World Cup on Thursday, and will be sidelined for five months as he looks to regain fitness.
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Despite the loss of the former Valencia attacker, the European giants will not recruit any new faces in the upcoming transfer window.
"This season we have closed the door," the executive told Onda Cero.
"Things are fine; we are very happy with how the whole team has done this year, and although Villa and [Ibrahim] Afellay are injured, we have a sports philosophy that when we need players, we look to the B team," he stated.
One of the players linked with a move to the Camp Nou is Brazil international forward Neymar. Bartomeu admitted that the European champions are interested in the South American, but made clear that the club is aware of the player's bond with Santos.
"Neymar has a contract with Santos. We would try to sign him only if he decided to jump to another team, did not renew his contract with Santos, or if our coach was interested in his services," the vice-president continued.
Barcelona are currently top of La Liga on goal difference after their 3-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid last weekend, but Bartomeu knows that their arch-rivals will push them all the way for the title this season.
"There are still a lot of games left and anything can happen. Madrid have a very good team this year and it will be very competitive until the end of the season," he concluded.
The European champions face Santos in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday in their next game.
Starting last month and continuing every Friday through to January, Goal.com will publish extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. Ahead of Sunday's Club World Club final with Santos, see the latest exciting extract on how Lionel Messi helped the Catalans claim this trophy for the very first time in their history in 2009. Don't miss it!
How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.
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| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
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| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
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| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
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