Giovani dos Santos has admitted that his first choice would be to stay with Barcelona this summer amid growing rumours of bids from Premier League teams keen on taking him to England.

The Mexican youngster signed off his first full season in the Blaugrana first-team with a hat-trick in an entertaining encounter at Real Murcia and that will have attracted even more suitors.

Chelsea and Manchester City have been strongly linked with a move for Giovani, whose father and agent have irked Barca by continuously asking for more money, but he is not keen to leave.

First-choice

"It was Barca who opened doors for me and they are still my first option," the 19-year-old told reporters. "It is the media that keep saying that I do not feature in the club's plans, nobody else."

Despite all the interest, Giovani had other worries to occupy himself with as he became more and more concerned with the fact that he was not scoring goals for the first-team.

"I needed to score. I was anxious. It's never too late to show your goalscoring skills," he continued. "I've worked hard, and I've been denied a goal all season. The goals have rounded the season off for me."

Finally, Giovani dedicated his flurry of goals against Murcia to out-going coach Frank Rijkaard, after the Dutchman brought him through from the B-team in recent seasons.

"I've dedicated them to Frank Rijkaard, who I care a lot for," he explained. "I'm really pleased with the hat-trick. I didn't expect it."