Barcelona Agrees a Deal in Principle With Atletico For Villa.

David Villa.
David Villa.

Barcelona have reached an agreement to sell Spain striker David Villa to Atletico Madrid.

A statement released on Barcelona website on Monday read: “FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of David Villa.”

Villa, 31, will move to the Estadio Vicente Calderon for a fee of up to €5.1m ($6.55m) with Barca reserving 50% of the rights over any future transfer.

The Spain’s all-time leading scorer, who joined Barca in the summer of 2010, has played 119 times for the club, scoring 48 goals.

The news has come as a disappointment for Tottenham Hotspur coach, Andres Villas-Boas, who has been linked with a move for the striker as he searches for a replacement for out-of-favour Emmanuel Adebayo.

Villa will be in contention to line up against his former club when the two sides meet in forthcoming season’s curtain-raiser, the Spanish Super Cup between last season’s league and Cup winners.