Definitely no bid for Villa, says Barca

Andoni Zubizaretta (Barcelona's sporting director) has insisted that Arsenal had made no bid for Villa in the January transfer window, despite Arsene Wenger's allusion that he had attempted to sign the Spanish forward, while at the same time managing to state that he had never chased Villa, something that boggles minds to this day.

The Barcelona official seems to be quite sure of his facts though, but in the world of football, one can never say for sure until a move actually materialises. Even the player going to the grounds of his potential new employers doesn't mean anything for definite (Ah, Odemwingie, we're not going to let you forget this one). It did seem a strange move at the time, albeit necessary, but few Gunners fans really had their hopes set high on Wenger forking out a sizable sum on a 31-year-old, regardless of his credentials.

However, Zubizaretta took the time to make some interesting statements amidst vigorously dismissing any Arsenal contact with their resident Spanish all-time top-scorer. He suggested that the club were ready to make a bid for Brazilian starlet Neymar in the near future, while commenting on the difficult upcoming home fixture against AC Milan, needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit. An interesting press conference to be sure, but football is played on the pitch, and sadly, transfers are done behind closed doors. All we can do is speculate.