Adelaide United coach Josep Gombau says Spanish compatriot David Villa isn’t heading to the Hyundai A-League just for a holiday.
In a huge coup for the Australian league ahead of its tenth season, the Spanish World Cup star and former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker will arrive in Melbourne before the new season.
The striker has signed on for a 10-game guest stint with John van’t Schip’s Melbourne City.
For Gombau, who like Villa spent a number of years at Spanish giants Barcelona, it’s his job to devise a plan to try and stop the classy striker when his Reds play City in the new season.
While the pair weren’t at the Camp Nou at the same time, Gombau says Villa is the ultimate professional and knows his mentality will ensure Australian fans see his best.
“Sometimes you can bring a star, a player that can have this (big) name and they come here just to enjoy themselves,” Gombau told www.a-league.com.au.
“But David Villa is not like this, he’s a player that a winner. He’s a player that’s hungry always.
“This will bring lot because David is playing here to be successful and he will always try his best. He always plays like this. He has this mentality.
“He’s the top striker in Spanish history, he’s won (La Liga) the last two seasons with Barcelona then Atletico Madrid and played the final of the Champions League. This is amazing.
“He will come here and want to beat everyone and try and score the most goals as possible as he can. We will enjoy to see it.”
Heading into his second season with the Reds, Gombau is impressed with the standard of the competition and its continual improvement.
And he believes the influx of foreign coaches and players like Villa will only help lift that level.
“For sure. When a new coach comes he has his knowledge from his country, his background, he has his style and he shows it to the players in Australia,” said Gombau, who also coached the Foxtel A-League All Stars in August.
“This means they improve and also when good players come here.
“Training with them every day, the intensity of the training is more high so the value of this player is important.”
