Coach: Villa staying at Valencia

VALENCIA, Spain (AP) David Villa will be staying at Valencia, coach Unai Emery said Friday.

The Spain striker had been a Real Madrid and Barcelona transfer target, but Valencia's high price tag - 50 million ($71 million) - saw the two Spanish powerhouses look elsewhere. Madrid signed Lyon forward Karim Benzema and Barcelona is on the verge of acquiring Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"The reality is that Villa is staying," Emery said. "Valencia wanted to have David Villa in its team despite its known economic hardships. It's important that the club puts stock in the sporting side."

Villa, who scored three goals for Spain at the Confederations Cup despite constant reports over his future, turned down a move to Chelsea to stay in Spain.

Emery said it was normal for Villa to ponder a move, and that he was sure that the 27-year-old Spaniard would return to preseason training with the same motivation as always despite seeing potential moves fall through.

"Villa never said he wanted to leave," Emery said a day after reports emerged that the Spain striker was willing to take a salary cut to move to Barcelona.

Fellow Spain internationals David Silva and Juanma Mata have also been reported Madrid and Barcelona targets, but new president Manuel Llorente has preferred not to sell any of his stars despite the club being up to 600 million ($845 million) in debt and with construction work on a new stadium having halted since the club cannot afford to pay the costs.

Valencia's players played without pay for a month early in the year before the club finally came through.

"I think they are players that have always been happy at Valencia and I hope, I'm convinced, that they will return to the group easily, and will do so with the complete professionalism they have always shown," Emery said.