Che reject Real approach

Valencia president Vicente Soriano says the club rejected a last-ditch bid from Real Madrid for star striker David Villa.

The forward has been courted by Real Madrid for quite some time but had appeared to pledge his future to Los Che after signing a new contract last week.

However, with Robinho heading to Manchester City, who also made a reported bid for Villa, Real themselves opted to try and secure a last-gasp move for the Euro 2008 golden boot winner.

However, the approach from Bernabeu officials was rejected with Soriano saying they were not prepared to allow such a key member of their squad to depart at such a late stage.

"The president of Real Madrid called me and I made it clear to him that we aren't a selling club," Soriano told Las Provincias. "He might have heard the opposite, but that's not the case.

"He also told me that he regretted pressing for Villa on the last day of the market.

"I told him that this player is our emblem and we want him here. It was not about money.

"We told him (Calderon) that with four hours to go to the close of the transfer window we did not have any time to react.

"Moreover, how were we going to sell him after presenting his contract renewal?

"And we don't forget that the president had made a commitment to all the Valencia fans that Villa would stay."