Barcelona chief denies Villa rumours

Reports in the Spanish press claim there have been contact between the two clubs.

“Nobody has supposedly said anything, nor has anyone supposedly spoken to the player. For that reason, when nothing has happened, there is nothing to say,” Begiristain told Sport.

“There has been absolutely no contact with the representative of the player.

“It is the technical secretary’s job to work hard and all we are doing at the moment is analysing the squad and seeing if there are any wesaknesses.

“After that we can start to look for players, but for the time being I insist that there is nothing.

“The coach is the person to point out where there are weaknesses, but I can assure you that no names have been mentioned.”