Barca close on Villa, Fabregas may take longer
MADRID (Reuters) - La Liga champions Barcelona are closing in on prized Valencia striker David Villa while the Catalans expect a longer wait before they clinch Cesc Fabregas's return to the Nou Camp.
Joan Laporta, the club's outgoing president, said Tuesday at a Barca foundation event talks with Valencia for the capture of Villa were "on track" and he expected them "to be resolved soon."
Rafael Yuste, one of the Catalan club's vice presidents, said bringing Arsenal captain Fabregas back to Barca, where he was a youth player, was "more complicated because lengthy negotiations with his club lie ahead."
"But both players want to come and that makes everything easier," Yuste said in a Monday night radio interview.
Asked about Yuste's comments, an Arsenal spokesperson said the Premier League club never commented on transfer speculation and a Valencia spokeswoman said the La Liga club had no immediate comment.
Fabregas, who has several years left on his Arsenal contract, is recovering from a cracked bone in his right leg and should be fit to help European champions Spain in their bid for a first World Cup triumph in South Africa starting next month.
