Arsenal target Victor Valdes has told Barcelona he plans to stay with them next season.
The Gunners have scouted several goalkeepers and were considering a move for the 31-year-old Valdes, who has also attracted interest from Liverpool, as he enters the final year of his current contract with the La Liga champions.
However, Barca are keen to retain Valdes’s services and the player’s agent, Gines Carvajal, has told the club that the Spain international intends to honour his current deal, although that raises the possibility he could leave next summer for nothing.
Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said: “Valdes’s agent has officially informed our director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta, that Victor intends to see out his current contract, which we are pleased to hear.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will now have to look at other alternatives. The Frenchman is an admirer of Sunderland’s Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who will cost them in the region of £9million.
The 24-year-old Mignolet could be tempted by the prospect of playing Champions League football, especially in a World Cup year with Belgium poised to qualify for next summer’s finals in Brazil.
Arsenal have also frequently watched Stoke’s Asmir Begovic and Swansea’s Michael Vorm among others.
