A-League star recruit David Villa may end his 10-game loan stint with Melbourne City earlier than expected.
The Spanish star is in Australia to help the newly re-branded City from sister club New York City FC, but could skip town after the Melbourne’s round 4 clash against Adelaide United.
Villa will return to New York in a fortnight to visit his wife and children and doesn’t have a fixed return date, fuelling speculation that the club is wavering on the original seven-home game minimum agreement with the 32-year-old.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have David as a member of our squad for the first part of the Hyundai A-League 2014-2015 season,” a City spokesman said on Tuesday.
“We would obviously want a player of his caliber to represent the club in as many games of the guest allowance as possible, between now and the commencement of MLS pre-season training in January.
“The precise number of Hyundai A-League games that David will play will be determined by the best interest of the player and his now New York-based family and the prioritisation of the requirements of both New York City FC and Melbourne city FC.
“That means that his playing and training schedule will be the product of all of those factors and subject to ongoing assessment.”
The Abu Dhabi ownership group acquired Melbourne Heart in January for a cool $12 million, quickly renaming the club City to match fellow City Football Group clubs Manchester City and New York City FC while replacing the team’s red and white strip with the traditional City light blue.
The alliance enabled Villa to join fellow recruits Damien Duff and Robert Koren at Melbourne City while the US MLS enjoyed it’s internationally off-kilter off-season.
Villa has already made his presence in the A-League felt, kicking two goals in City’s opening two fixtures- a win and a draw.
Photo: Wayne Taylor/Getty Images
