That man and Robin? Villa out and RVP in at Barcelona claim Spanish newspaper

Barcelona-based paper SPORT is convinced that the Nou Camp club will look to fund a €25million for the Dutchman by selling David VillaRather predictably, Robin van Persie's statement that he wishes not to renew his contract at Arsenal has sparked a transfer frenzy across Europe.

Seeing the back of him: Will Robin van Persie leave this summer? And is he Barca-bound?

Juventus are thought to have bid in their continued search for a striker that has also seen them linked with Luis Suarez , but following their purchases of Mauricio Isla, Kwadwo Asamoah and the remaining 50% of Sebastian Giovinco's contract, the Turin club are thought not to have the funds to bring the Gunners' captain to Italy.

Manchester City's interest is no secret with City players encouraging Roberto Mancini to go for the Netherlands hitman.

SPORT claims that Paris Saint-Germain are "desperate" to find a partner for new signing Ezequiel Lavezzi, but the Catalan paper thinks that Barcelona could well use the fact that both Juve and PSG are searching for a striker to their advantage, in the hunt for van Persie's signature.

While conceding that the Nou Camp club cannot compete on a financial level with Carlo Ancelotti's Qatari-backed transfer fund, SPORT insists that the Dutchman would much prefer a move to the Blaugrana.

The suggestion is that to provide PSG with a forward, and to fill their coffers sufficiently, they will sell Spain forward David Villa to the Parisians or Juventus, in order that they could make a move for van Persie:

"The interest of PSG and Juventus [in Villa] still has not translated into anything concrete, but there is no doubt that an offer of €25million and the predisposition of the player for a change of scenery would have a tremendous effect.

"From there, and always counting on the complicity of van Persie, it is considered that this €25m brought in from the exit of el guaje (Villa) would be more than enough to convince Arsenal to agree to a deal."

The boardroom civil war at Arsenal has not gone unnoticed, and the paper also claims that van Persie dreams of a move to one of the big two Spanish clubs, potentially being willing to see out his contract until 2013 if a deal cannot be reached this summer.

mirror.co.uk