David Villa announces retirement from football

David Villa has confirmed he will hang up his boots following 19 years of professional football.

At the age of 37, Villa announced on Wednesday morning via Twitter that he will be retiring at the end of the J-League in January. 

The Vissel Kobe shirt will be the last one the Spaniard will be wearing; it is one that followed a great variety of clubs. Eight to be precise with whom he went on to score 324 goals in 638 games.

Villa can easily boast about his achievements, he was Valencia’s top scorer for five seasons in a row, from 2005 until his move to Barcelona in 2010. He is the all-time scorer of the Spanish National team with 59 goals in 98 games, surpassing the likes of Raul, Fernando Torres and Alfredo Di Stefano. 

A lot of people can argue that his most prolific time in his career was when he wore the stripes of Barcelona. He spent three years in Catalonia and It didn’t take long for him to impress, scoring on his La Liga, El Classico and Champions League debut.

In his first season, Villa had become part of a historical side under Pep Guardiola, where he would go on to win a treble and score on an unforgettable Champions League final night in London.

This success has followed his greatest title, the World Cup in South Africa in the summer of 2010, not a lot of players can say that they won a treble and a World Cup in less than 365 days.

He eventually left for Atletico Madrid and scored on his debut against no other than former side Barcelona, to lift the Spanish Super Cup.

Villa then became one of the first players to play in the MLS in their last seasons, joining New York City in 2014, but spent the year on loan at Melbourne City. He returned to the MLS and won the ‘MVP’ award three years in a row (2015, 2016, 2017).

To end his career, he would join Japanese side Vissel Kobe and be reunited with Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta in 2019. 

The Spaniard however won’t be completely leaving the beautiful game behind, revealing he will be investing in a New York based club Queensboro FC, who will be starting in the second tier of the North American league in 2021.