Football News

Following his heroics for Barcelona against Real Madrid in El Clasico at the weekend, Victor Valdes is set to be richly rewarded as the Blaugrana prepare to open talks to offer him a new contract.With the club having safely tied up the future of midfielders Xavi and Sergio Busquets, they are now eager to ensure that Valdes, considered the best goalkeeper at the Camp Nou since the days of Andoni Zubizaretta back in the late '80s and early '90s, commits his future to the Catalan cause.

Barcelona-based daily Sport reports that initial meetings began several weeks ago between Barca sporting director Txiki Begiristain and the player’s agent and father, Jose Manuel Valdes.
It is believed that a new deal will be offered to the 26-year-old to extend his current agreement, which expires in 2010, until 2014 while maintaining his buy-out clause, which stands at €100 million.

However, negotiations have been put on hold momentarily as Begiristain has been forced to fly out to Japan to attend to his brother who has fallen ill.

Barcelona are also keeping a close eye on Villarreal’s Diego Lopez, should the negotiations with Valdes run into any complications.