David Villa Shows Barca Pre-Contract With Arsenal, Says He's Happy At Barca

A story this morning on Cartilage Free Captain claims that David Villa "showed the Barcelona board a pre-contract with Arsenal". Now, basically, if you boil that down, that's more like "David Villa walked into a room and showed a bunch of people a sheet of paper that doesn't really mean anything" - when push comes to shove, a pre-contract isn't even as binding as, say, a college sports letter of intent, and is much less binding than the lease on your apartment or a non-refundable airfare.

Apart from the awesome image in my head of David Villa going into the Barca boardroom, riffling through his backpack and his binders, and finding just the right sheet of paper, then waving it over his head saying THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SHOW YOU WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT...I SAID GOOD DAY and storming out, I can't believe there's much to this story, and neither does the Daily Mail. Money quote:

'I have a contract with Barca,' Villa said. 'And I've always said that I'm very happy here.'

So, what we have here is what always happens - a whole lot of churn on an otherwise slow morning that may mean something, and may mean nothing. Villa may yet leave Barcelona, and Villa may yet stay put. And I will probably write several more of these stories before August 31, and I will miss the pieces of my soul that vanish with every one. I'd like some actual, concrete, pen-to-paper signings now, please.