The football world was a bit taken aback at the sudden, if not illogical, move of David Villa to Atletico Madrid. The Barcelona man looked dead cert for a move and the favourite for some time had been Tottenham Hotspur. Figures were mentioned as high as €20m for the Spanish international striker but those were unrealistic given his age, contract situation, and the desire of both parties for a change.
At the weekend Mundo Deportivo, a Barcelona mouthpiece fiercely loyal to the club, printed an article saying that Tottenham hadn't come close to Barcelona's asking price of €10m and that the Catalan club were unhappy with the offer from the London club which Mundo themselves later described as ridiculous.
At the time we wondered how low that could be. We said that €6m or €7m would sound hilarious and be a huge bargain but he's gone for less than that in a deal which will hit €5.1m, with Barcelona keeping hold of 50% of the player's rights in case Atletico decide to sell him, this protects them from the low first payment of around €2m, with the rest to be paid over the next three seasons.
In hindsight many in the football world are saying it was obvious that Villa would remain in Spain but they weren't so outspoken before. In England and Spain, Tottenham Hotspur were singled out as the prime destination and it did seem that the player would be turning up at White Hart Lane.
So how little did Tottenham really offer, if it wasn't as good as Atletico's €5.1m? According to Mundo Deportivo tonight it was €3m to €4m, the halfway point of that converting to around £3m. As long as another club didn't come in there was always a chance Spurs could get the player for that amount, but Atletico did and they came up with a more attractive offer for club and, seemingly, the player.
If Tottenham really wanted Villa they should have secured him before now and this could be a Levy gamble which simply hasn't paid off.
