Bartomeu: "If Valdés sees out his contract, we won’t sign a keeper"

The Barcelona vice-president, Josep Maria Bartomeu spoke to Catalunya Radio and took a look at current events at the club. "We only think of Abidal as a player. If we offer him anything, it’ll be a new playing deal. We aren’t planning to offer him any other role within the club", he said in reference to the Frenchman’s future. Regarding Tito, he said: "Vilanova has a year left on his contract and will continue as coach".

The first-team keeper is a hot topic at the club: "Rosell has been in contact with Valdés to make it very clear that the doors are still open to him staying at the club". He stated: "Because we prioritise footballing matters, we’d rather keep Valdés until the end of the 2014 season than sell him this summer".

What is happening with Víctor concerns the club: "We don’t have a deadline for the Valdés affair. One option would be for him to see out his contract - in which case we wouldn’t sign a keeper". Santos’ flagship player is another name linked with Barcelona: "We chose to announce that we were interested in Neymar so that the footballing world would know that Barça wants this player".

He has always been of interest: "Our club managers have been asking for Neymar for ages, Guardiola wanted him. He’s an outstanding player, but it isn’t easy to play for Barça".