DAVID Villa has ruled out a move to the English Premier League after confirming he will only play in Spain next season.

The Valencia striker has been the subject of intense transfer speculation for the last few weeks, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea all being linked with the Spanish hot-shot.

Real Madrid had appeared to be in pole position only for cash-strapped Valencia to declare last week that Villa was no longer for sale and that they would only change their mind if a huge offer came in for the 27-year-old.

That has not stopped transfer speculation though, and now Spanish media believe Barca are leading the chase for the prolific forward.

Villa, who is currently on international duty with Spain at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, has been quiet on his future for the last few days, having last week revealed that he had made his mind up on where he wanted to play next season, although without saying what that decision was.

'A week ago my future was clear, and now it's not,' said Villa.

'I've been through some tough moments, which is partly my own fault, but I decided to put it all aside and I've not thought about it in the last five days.'

Decision

The Euro08 winner is sure about one thing though, insisting that he wants to continue playing in La Liga.

He said: 'When I said I had made a decision, it was true.

'And this decision is that next season I will play in Spain because it is the league that is best for me, I will not go abroad.'

But Manchester United do not appear to have been perturbed by the news.

Reports claim that Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to make a ??40 million ($96m) bid for Villa after Barcelona made their intentions known.

Ferguson wants Villa above all other options as he looks to replace the lost goals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez and he is poised to match any Barca offer.

The canny Old Trafford chief - back from a break in France - has been monitoring the Villa race since he sold Ronaldo and passed on Tevez. And now he's going in with a rival bid.

Hard-up Valencia are still under pressure to sell and Ferguson is waiting to see their response, wary that Real Madrid is still the player's favoured destination.

United have not entered the transfer market since Ronaldo's ??80m sale to Real Madrid and Ferguson has the cash to buy Villa and compete with Barca on wages.

It is believed the Premiership champions only want two major players to come in and Ferguson has the backing to go in with a big bid.

United are hopeful of speaking to Villa next week - or at least have the chase resolved. But Ferguson will have to be at his persuasive best to convince the player to move abroad.

This article was first published in The New Paper.