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Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (27) will sign his contract renewal tomorrow.

Valdés will come to the Camp Nou offices on Tuesday, accompanied by his father José Valdés and his agent Ginés Carvajal, to sign a new deal that will link him to Barcelona until 2014.

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Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain, Barcelona sports vice-president Rafael Yuste and Barcelona director of football Raúl Sanllehí met yesterday with the representatives of Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (27), his father José Valdés and player's agent Ginés Carvajal.

After a first positive meeting last week on the renewal of the player, whose contract expires in 2010, it was generally believed that a deal could be closed but after 45 minutes in the Camp Nou offices things seem to have gotten only more complicated.

Asked about the meeting, Carvajal told journalists that a deal isn't anywhery close at this moment: "We've made an offer but we're still far away. It's complicated. The atmosphere during the meeting was correct but it won't be easy. I respect the interests of the club but Víctor never asked for a pay rise before. Now the time of the renewal is there and we can ask something.

We understand that what they offer is what they consider to be right, but the duration nor the salary is coming close to what Víctor Valdés is asking. He cannot be compared to Casillas but at this moment he's Barcelona's goalkeeper, he has won three trophies this year and he was again the goalkeeper who received the least goals in the Liga.

We're not disappointed, we're only defending the interests of the player. Víctor wishes to continue but life doesn't end at Barça. And he's not out yet, he has another year on his contract. We're not having concrete offers from other clubs but it's time to make a decision. We're 11 June, so there's time left but we want to have an answer soon so this doesn't turn into a soap opera."

Asked about the renewal negotiations with Valdés, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that Valdés will have to lower his demands: "I cannot imagine Valdés wearing another shirt. I know how the meeting went and I can only hope the player perfectly knows the offer made by his agent. If he knows about it, I would like him to reconsider it. We have to be patient to see if we can reach an agreement although their demands have surprised us a lot."

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Valdés, whose salary reportedly hasn't been raised since he signed his previous contract in 2005, wants to earn as much as the group of players who are having the highest salaries behind Messi. Although Barcelona raised their first offer, they made clear that it's impossible to meet the demands of the player.

Next week there could be a new meeting but Barcelona hopes that the entourage of the player changes its position in the meantime. It's also possible that Barcelona tries to talk personally with Valdés or that Barcelona president Laporta personally takes charge of the negotiations like he did during the renewal negotiations with Xavi last year.

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that the two parties didn't schedule a new meeting but that talks are planned to go on by phone. Both the club and the player's entourage would think that some time should pass to let things cool off.

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Several Barcelona officials have reacted over the past days on the events surrounding the renewal of the contract of Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (27) (read more here).


Manager Josep Guardiola at a press conference:
"You already know my stand: if he wants to stay and continues, I will be delighted as I am now to have him. I trust him. He makes mistakes, like all his teammates and myself, but he gives us more than he could take away. I'm not worried about this situation because he's strong and it won't affect him.

I guess his agent knows what he's doing, but I've always thought that the more calm and the more quiet you deal with those things, the better. He knows more about this than I do but I don't know if he's helping his player with this strategy. If he has some problem, he can call Txiki. When the time is there, we will talk with Víctor about his renewal."

President Joan Laporta to journalists:
"Valdés is for me the best goalkeeper in the world and we'll take that in consideration when talking about his renewal. He will earn what he deserves. He has been decisive in important moments. Being the goalkeeper of Barça is more difficult than at any other club. We play from ball possession and our goalkeeper sees very few balls so he always has to be on top of his game.

I'm confident that we can find a good deal. We have a certain salary policy and we'll fit him into that. He wants to stay and we'll offer him a market conform salary so we can reach an agreement which satisfies both parties. The technical deparment is handling his renewal with the calmness that is necessary in those situations. "

Sports vice-president Rafael Yuste to Catalan radio station Onda Cero Catalunya:
"Everybody can be very calm about the issue. I greeted him earlier this week and when I see how happy he is, that made me feel relaxed. Víctor is the best goalkeeper in the world and we'll treat him that way. I would like Valdés to stay Barça's goalkeeper for many more years but the sports director and the manager will make the final decision."

Sports director Txiki Begiristain to journalists:
"At this moment we haven't been notified by the player that he has another agent. Until last summer, all talks were held with the father and the brother of Víctor. The truth is that we were very happy with the tone of the talks but we put things on hold because there was a serious difference about the economic part. We will now talk with Víctor and he'll tell us who we have to contact, so there shouldn't be any problem.

I want to make very clear that it's not true that he has asked to earn as much as Iker Casillas, I can assure you that. After the declarations of his agent, he reacted in a good way. He wants to stay at the club and that's what we all want because he's our first goalkeeper. His personality is a great asset, he's a youth player, he is having a solid career and he did important things for the club. Because of all this, we will fight to reach an agreement.

When the time is there, we will talk. We don't want the players to get distracted now, they should only focus on the game these last couple of months of the season. We'll negotiate all renewals at the end of the season. We don't have a ranking about who will come first but it's clear that the position of goalkeeper is one of the most important positions so we want to have certainty about it."

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Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona wants to renew the contract of Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (27), that expires in the summer of 2010 (read more here).

The technical department of the club thinks that it’s almost impossible at this moment to buy a quality goalkeeper who can deal with the pressure at Barcelona like Valdés can and as a consequence there has been decided that they won’t sign another goalkeeper this year but will try to renew Valdés' contract until 2014.

Last season, Barcelona sports vice-president Marc Ingla would have started renewal talks with Valdés and his father, who is acting as his agent. Barcelona would have made the player four offers, the last one including a gross year salary of around six million euro, plus another possible two million euro in incentives.

Valdés signed his current five-year contract in the summer of 2005. His salary was then believed to be 2 million euro plus 1,5 million euro in incentives. The player also got the promise of Barcelona president Joan Laporta that, if everything went well, he would get a pay rise after three years.

That pay rise didn't come and Valdés now not only wants a renewal but also still wants to receive this promised pay rise. Sources closes to the club and the player also both denied to the paper that Valdés would have asked to earn as much as Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Although a deal was close last year, it couldn’t in the end be finalized, also because Ingla left the club together with several board members in July. Since then, there have almost been no further contacts and the club has now decided to postpone all renewal negotiations until the end of the season.

Valdés would in the meantime have received three offers by interested clubs, one of them being AC Milan, that offers him a lot more than he’s currently earning at Barcelona. The priority of the Catalan goalkeeper is nevertheless to renew his contract with Barcelona.

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Milan wants Valdés to replace Dida (read more here). The goalkeeper would have signed a few days ago an agreement with player’s agent Ginés Carvajal, who also represents Real Madrid player Raúl and whose first task is to negotiate a contract extension with Barcelona.

But although Valdés wants to continue at Barcelona, it cannot be excluded that he will be willing to listen to the offer of the Italian club. And independent from him joining Milan or not, former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard would be planning to include Valdés in his wish list if he would return to the bench this summer.

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Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés (26) is the next player with whom Barcelona wants to close a renewal deal, after the club has reached agreements on the contract renewals of midfielders Xavi and Busquets.

Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain already started negotiating a few weeks ago with José Manuel Valdés, the father and agent of the player whose current contract expires in the summer of 2010. The club now wants to accelerate the talks.

Although in previous meetings some clauses have been established, a deal still wouldn't be anywhere near. With Begiristain unexpectedly having to travel to Japan to stand by his sick brother, the negotiations have now been stopped and a deal won't be closed as early as expected.

It would already have been agreed upon that Valdés will renew until 2014 and that his buyout clause will continue to be 100 million euro°. The main difference would be the salary of the Catalan goalkeeper and more specifically the division between the fixed part and the incentives.

Barcelona's absolute priority is to renew Valdés but although the club wants to make a financial effort for that, there would also have been contacts with other goalkeepers just in case the negotiations would fail. One of these goalkeepers that has been sounded out to hear more about his current contract situation and his willingness to join Barcelona is Villareal goal keeper Diego López (27) (read more here).

Catalan sports weekly paper Gol claims that the negotiations have reached a dead point because of the high demands of Valdés. Barcelona is ready to make the player a slightly higher offer, which at this moment isn't enough for the Catalan goalkeeper who would have threatened to leave.

The first option of Valdés is nevertheless to continue at Barcelona. The club and Barcelona manager Guardiola want to keep the player but Barcelona would have fixed a maximum salary of 2,8 million euro a year, with Valdés now earning around 2 million euro.

Spanish news agency EFE claims that Valdés has asked to earn as much as top goalkeepers like Real Madrid's Casillas. Barcelona would for now have blocked the negotiations because they cannot accept the demands put forward by the Catalan player.

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