Spanish star David Villa

Well the big teams get bigger in Spain as Catalan news daily Sport reported early Tuesday that David Villa will most likely sign with the culés as soon as the season ends on Sunday.

For many this was going to be the present that club president Joan Laporta wanted to leave the Blaugrana faithful before leaving office.  It would cap off a presidency full of successes as well as controversy.   It could also be that proverbial sticking out of the tongue in the direction of Sandro Rosell in the event he wins the elections in the coming months.

Barcelona wanted to finalize this deal in the coming days in order to present him prior to the World Cup.   According to that same report from Sport, Villa is currently in the Condal City as part of an Adidas promotion alongside "future teammate" Lionel Messi.  He would also do his part in arranging some final details in the deal in order to be taking the first flight out of Valencia after their match against Tenerife on Sunday. 

According to sources within the club, the imminent signing of Villa all but seals Zlatan Ibrahimovic's fate in Barcelona.  The Swede statistically had a typical Ibra season, but it wasn't enough for him to full adapt to his new team.  More importantly it was not enough to get rid of the shadow left by Samuel Eto'o or the constant criticism of the player.  

 According to Sport, Villa's price tag is at €40 million as Valencia are looking to stop the bleeding economically and there is no other choice but to sell their top players in order to have the team stay afloat.  The press in Spain also mention that David Silva and Juan Mata will also follow suit and make their exit from Mestalla.

Villa is one of the most dominant forwards of the past decade in La Liga.  Since his arrival to the first division he has scored 204 goals in 367 matches for both Real Zaragoza and Valencia.  

***Check out our week-long feature next week on The Laporta Legacy ***