By DAN KARELL
David Villa’s much anticipated loan spell in Australia will begin in earnest on Tuesday.
The Spanish forward made waves over the summer when he became the first player signed to New York City FC, signing a Designated Player contract. Soonafter, it was announced that Villa would be spending October through December down under with Manchester City’s latest property, Melbourne City FC.
The Australian club announced on Monday evening that Villa would arrive on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in time for a launch event ahead of the Hyundai A-League’s opening weekend.
“Villa will commence training with the rest of the 22-man Melbourne City FC squad immediately after his arrival,” a press release read. “From that point he will be available for selection.” Villa has been given the No. 9 jersey for the upcoming season.
Melbourne City kick off their season on Saturday with a trip to face Sydney FC. If Villa were to play through the end of December, the Spaniard could play 13 league matches.
Since returning from the World Cup with the Spanish National Team, Villa has been in the process of moving his wife and two children into their new home in New York as well as training on his own to try and stay as fit as he can.
“The overall goal is to help the team perform well while I am there, support the Melbourne City FC team, build relationships, enjoy the style of football the league [in Australia] has to offer and, obviously, I want to do my job well and help Melbourne City to win as many games as possible,” Villa said in the press release.
“From what I have heard, my arrival has generated a lot of high expectations for the club and I hope that I can meet them – and that I can help the players, the coach and the entire team to perform well this season. Hopefully, I’ll be able to play at my best level in order to help the team.”
Villa’s last competitive game came on June 23 in a 3-0 victory against Australia at the World Cup. Villa scored in the game, which will likely be his final appearance for the Spanish National Team.
Villa, like fellow NYCFC Designated Player Frank Lampard, is expected to return to New York in January when the team convenes ahead of the 2015 MLS season.
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What do you think of this news? How do you see Villa playing in Australia? Do you believe this move is good for NYCFC? Worried he may suffer an injury?
Share your thoughts below.
hope this works out and he can get into form and stay injury free, but man i hate this move. cheapens his whole signing, IMO.
what about Lampard ^?
what about him? playing for Manchester City doesn’t cheapen it, IMO, in the same way that Villa playing for Melbourne does. i may be in the minority, but it just gives me that feeling.
How does it cheapen it…because others will think less of the move now ?
Who cares ?
i care, not a ton, but i do. idk, to me, with Villa, you have a guy going from a top league to MLS which is a big deal. by making a stop in the A-League first, it kind of takes away a bit of that.
with Lampard, he may change EPL teams, but it’s still the EPL. that’s the difference.
“hate” was too strong of a word. i don’t hate it. just don’t prefer it. but i don’t mind Kaka going to SP, so maybe it’s a bit hypocritical.
I’m not exactly a fan of this team but how does playing for Melbourne cheapen this move? Otherwise he won’t have any games from June until March.
because he had options to be loaned elsewhere, reportedly. just being a bit selfish that A-League is parading around MLS’ player. i’m just being bitter.
Well it’s not exactly the A-League that is parading around an MLS player. Manchester City own both NYCFC and Melbourne City FC (majority owners). So it makes perfect sense to loan out Villa to Melbourne and increase their brand awareness. I don’t think there are any other teams in the world that he would get loaned to. Man City are also minority owners in a Japanese league club, but I doubt they would send anybody there.
Look, I understand the business side of it and why it makes perfect sense. That’s kind of what I mean when I say it cheapens it. It’s all about the brand. But like I said, I’m really just being a selfish fan.
And from what I read, he did have other options. Options that weren’t associated with City though.