Arsenal will have to wait to sign Victor Valdes after Barcelona said they had no intention of letting the goalkeeper leave this summer.
The Spanish shot stopper announced earlier this season that he wouldn't be signing a new contract at the Nou Camp and was keen to leave the club at the end of the campaign. Valdes' announcement has caused a number of clubs to take a vested interest in the 31-year-old, with Arsenal said to be ready to pay £10million for the keeper. Manager Arsene Wenger is believed to be keen to bring in a new man to challenge youngsters Wojciech Szczesny and Lukas Fabianski. However, Barcelona have now revealed they have no intention of selling Valdes this year and instead plan to keep him at the club in the hope they can persuade him to extend his contract beyond its current 2014 cut-off point. Barca vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed: "[President Sandro] Rosell has had contact with Valdes to make it clear that we have to leave the doors open [on him changing his mind]. "As we prioritise sporting aspects, we prefer to run out the contract until June 2014 rather than sell him this summer. "We have no deadline in Valdes' case, one option is to run to the end of his contract and in that case we will not sign a goalkeeper [this summer]."
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style="border-radius: 25px 25px 25px 25px; border: 5px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="320" />The Spanish shot stopper announced earlier this season that he wouldn't be signing a new contract at the Nou Camp and was keen to leave the club at the end of the campaign. Valdes' announcement has caused a number of clubs to take a vested interest in the 31-year-old, with Arsenal said to be ready to pay £10million for the keeper. Manager Arsene Wenger is believed to be keen to bring in a new man to challenge youngsters Wojciech Szczesny and Lukas Fabianski. However, Barcelona have now revealed they have no intention of selling Valdes this year and instead plan to keep him at the club in the hope they can persuade him to extend his contract beyond its current 2014 cut-off point. Barca vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed: "[President Sandro] Rosell has had contact with Valdes to make it clear that we have to leave the doors open [on him changing his mind]. "As we prioritise sporting aspects, we prefer to run out the contract until June 2014 rather than sell him this summer. "We have no deadline in Valdes' case, one option is to run to the end of his contract and in that case we will not sign a goalkeeper [this summer]."
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