FC Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés signed a new contract on Tuesday, and gave an interview with Cataland newspaper Sport.

How is your summer going?

A little altered because of the pregnancy of my wife [she is seven and a half months pregnant] and because of the contract renewal. Everything has gone as expected and I have had full confidence in staying at Bara. It was what I wanted as much as what the club wanted.

A weight has been lifted off your shoulders…

We took two years with it. During this time it stopped because we, both myself and the club, understood the that priority had to be given to the sporting interests. It has been a long time but it is good to start well.

You have had to hear everything, if you were a pesetero [money grabber], if you were forcing your departure, if you already had an agreement with another club…

Yes. It has given a distorted, unreal and false image of myself. I have always kept myself out of it all. I have never entered into making valuations, or repeating or contradicting what was said. I believed that that was the best thing for everyone, the most sensible thing. I have been silent, but everything that parts of the press said hurt me, and it blew the negotiation process our of proportion.

And now how do you think you’re going to act?

We must look forward at the thrill I’ll have for next season. I must be grateful for the effort the club has made for me to stay. Now what is important is to make use of the experience of what has been lived after the end of Paris and to maintain the thrill throughout the season. This will be a more difficult league than the last one. Madrid has had to spend a lot of money to compete with the Triplet. They needed a knock of effect in order to create enthusiasm.

You are a specialist in putting up with things both on and off the field…

Good… I do not think that I deserve the media treatment that I have had. I am not a person that searches to be the bad guy, I want to have a second term. I know what I am and what I want. I am calm about how I am, of what I can give to the club even if others want to give an unreal image of me that does not correspond to reality. Normally I gloss over these comments, while others are more complicated.

What do you think is owed to this ‘lynching’?

There are days without soccer, and…

You said that an unreal image of you has been made. Your colleagues highlight your working spirit. And you?

The calmness of knowing what I want. I have defined my objective. my goals and and I’m not going to stray from this. I always go with the same enthusiasm for working.

And what are these challenges?

Everything sporting, and of course being a father.

[Your child] will be a winner of the Champions League?

The child has two ears, like the Champions League trophy, but I expect him to be better (laughing).

At 26 years of age you are reaching sporting maturity. Do you notice this?

Yes. The experience helps. I learn many things, some I improve on and others return and I repeat the asme mistakes. This is life. What is true is that I am in a sweet moment, that’s why I wanted to remain here because I have much more to give to this club.

What would leaving have meant to you?

I do not see my life away from Gavà and the Camp Nou. It is very difficult to imagine playing soccer in another shirt because this club is personal for me.

To have people like Guardiola at hand is worth a lot in decisions like this. Is that correct?

There are many important people but Rijkaard was a turning point in my career. Without his confidence I wouldn’t have achieved anything. I didn’t have any doubts about Guardiola but in twelve months I have learned more than ever. He has taught me things which I did not know even existe in soccer, of an idea about working, of going step by step and about leadership. I expect to keep learning.

During this time, you have also changed your manager. What about this?

My father is my manager. It has always been like that and I’ve only had one. On this occassion I have collaborated with Carvajal who also has experience with many clubs. My father is my manager, adviser and confidant. I have trust in him and in my whole family. He has had collaborators and that’s it.

You have spoken of your future fatherhood. You will be the first father out of the players from the cantera. When is the child, Dylan, expected?

20th August. He has changed my life and he still isn’t here. I really want to have him and enjoy him. I hope that more children will come later. I am ready.

Barça is trying to close a deal with Villa and to offload Eto’o. What seems the most important decision of the preseason?

I’m not entering into these things because the sporting planning is done by others, not by me. I can only say that Villa, who I know from the Spanish International youth team, could provide us with many things and also wants to do big things. Besides, if he comes it would leave me in peace because he has put me in more than one predicament in many matches. As for Samuel, I want him to stay because he is a brother and I know that he can give Barça a lot. He is a very big player and has proved it all these years.