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David Villa Bio Send To Friend
Widely regarded as one of the top strikers in the game, Villa has impressed for both club and country and has one of the finest scoring records around. The Spanish striker has made his name as one of the quickest and most deadly finishers in the game with Valencia, while his performances for Spain have seen him net nearly a goal every other game - finishing Euro 2008 as the tournament's top scorer.His footballing career could have been ended as early as four years old, when he suffered a severe fracture to his femur, but he made a full recovery and began to catch the eye as a teenager in the lower leagues.
He got his professional breakthrough at his local club Sporting de Gijón, following childhood idol Quini, and made his debut for the first-team in 2000-01. Having impressed in the youth teams, Villa took his chance in the top flight with both hands and netted 38 league goals in his two seasons.
With his goalscoring ability on show for all to see, he earned himself a move to promoted Real Zaragoza in the summer of 2003. Netting 17 goals in his first season, he became a regular in the side and led Zaragoza to a Copa del Rey victory.
Catching the eye of the national team, he made his international debut for Spain in February 2005 in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino. A few months later, Villa made his big move to one of Spanish football's heavyweights as Valencia parted with €12m to secure his services.
In 2005-06 he really stepped up and smashed 25 goals in 35 league matches for his new club and was rewarded when, in October, he was among the 50 nominees for the Ballon d'Or prize.
With his partnership with former Real Madrid star Fernando Morientes blossoming, Villa began to get the recognition he deserved and was called up to play in the 2006 World Cup. His three goals would not win Spain the trophy, but there became no doubt as to his quality in front of goal.
Together, Morientes and Villa scored around 40 goals in all competitions in 2006-07 and led the club to 4th position in the league and the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Despite Valencia's poor showing in La Liga the next season - finishing 10th - Villa still bagged 18 goals in 26 starts. It was not an easy season, but Villa starred and won his first trophy with the club - the Copa del Rey.
Euro 2008 offered him the chance to impress on the international stage again and, alongside Fernando Torres, Villa proved to the world that he was a quality striker, finishing as the competitions' leading scorer. With Europe's elite clubs circling, Valencia acted quickly to tie their leading scorer down to a new deal, which he signed in August - tying him to the Mestalla until 2014.
He was recognised as one of Europe's best as he came 7th in the Ballon d'Or 2008 voting and, starting the 2008-09 season in blistering form, Villa bagged his 150th career league goal (in just 274 games) against his former club Sporting Gijon.
Constantly attracting attention in the midst of Valencia's financial woes, he was linked with moves to Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Inter, Barcelona and Real Madrid. With Los Che needing to sell their star asset to raise some much-needed cash, there will be no shortage of suitors for the striker when he does choose to leave the Mestalla.
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