I have followed Veron deal closely and Barca where never mentioned (good media not rubbish media like tuttosport or calciomercato.it). We got JSV because he had troubles in Italy due to the passports scandal that could have costed him a heavy suspension. He would have never left Italy if it wasn't for that.
Villa had been stating that he preferred Spain to England for 3 years in a row in which both Barca/Real where interested in him but they were always turned down due to Valencia's expectations (too high even for Barca/Real). We were just outsiders, who may have attracted attention only if Barca/Real suddently lost interest on the player which was highly improbable. Not to forget our not spending big for players over 26 yrs old policy since Valencia would have rather kept Villa then sell him for less then 30m.
There was as much chance of getting Villa as United buying a piece of land on the moon. Using his name as an excuse for our inability to add new players to the team would be
