Atletico Madrid jumped in late to convince the striker to snub Tottenham and move to Madrid

Atletico Madrid have signed David Villa for £4m from Barcelona in what could turn out to be the steal of the transfer window. The announcement of the deal comes as a huge blow to Villas Boas, who was convinced David Villa was ready to sign for Tottenham until Atletico Madrid stepped in to bring the talks to a halt.

Barcelona released a statement announcing the transfer: "FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of the player David Villa to the Madrid club.

"The operation will cost a maximum of 5.1 million euros (£4million), made up of 2.1 million euros this season, two million more if the player remains at Atletico in 2014/15 and another million if he extends his contract until 2015/16.

"In the meantime Barcelona retain the rights to 50 percent of any future transfer of the player."

David Villa leaves Barcelona after joining the club from Valencia three years ago. David Villa had been unable to nail down a regular starting spot last season. David Villa has had his share of injuries at the Nou camp.

David Villa is marked down as a replacement for Radamel Falcao, who left for Monaco. David Villa joins a illustrious list of prolific strikers to haveworn the red and white stripes of Atletico Madrid in recent times- Fernando Torres, Diego Forlan, Aguero and Falcao.