David Villa Departs New York City Football Club

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It's official, after four years, over 100 appearances, 77 regular season goals, 26 regular season assists, the first player, the first captain, the 2016 MLS MVP, David Villa has left the club.

He will depart NYCFC when his contract ends on December 31, 2018 and will likely play one season in Japan.

https://www.nycfc.com/post/2018/11/28/villaforever-david-villa-departs-new-york-city-football-club

https://www.nycfc.com/post/2018/11/28/villaforever-david-villa-s-farewell-interview?autoplay=true

https://www.nycfc.com/post/2018/11/28/villaforever-thank-you-captain?autoplay=true

 
Thank you, David. For everything.

For working your ass off in Major League Soccer, for playing like you were in the Champions League with Barcelona.

For being the rare "star" DP in MLS who truly understood and welcomed the role.

It was an honor to watch David Villa play soccer here, something we'll all tell our kids and grandkids about.
 
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I tried to prepare myself, we knew it was happening, but I still wasn’t ready.

Villa has been my favorite player for the past 10 years. I was ecstatic to find out he was coming to MLS, at a time I was just getting back into it. As a non NYer, I came to NYCFC for Villa. I’m hooked now, and I am here to stay (although I hate them right now).

He has had some incredible moments that I am happy to say I watched (and probably rewatched), and he has been pure class on and off the field.

The FO has definitely had their issues, but they hit a grand slam getting Villa as the club’s first player.
 
I tried to prepare myself, we knew it was happening, but I still wasn’t ready.

Villa has been my favorite player for the past 10 years. I was ecstatic to find out he was coming to MLS, at a time I was just getting back into it. As a non NYer, I came to NYCFC for Villa. I’m hooked now, and I am here to stay (although I hate them right now).

He has had some incredible moments that I am happy to say I watched (and probably rewatched), and he has been pure class on and off the field.

The FO has definitely had their issues, but they hit a grand slam getting Villa as the club’s first player.
Same, I'm not ready either. Seeing a legend like that live, game to game from only a short distance away is insane. It won't hit how lucky we were to see a legend play his heart out for the club until a few years from now. To get a DP of not only his caliber, but his passion and love is something I don't think NYCFC or MLS will see again for a while. Whether it was the story of some lady screaming Vamos Papi behind me every time he touched the ball in the inaugural opener, or singing "Villa, Villa, Villa- Too Many Margaritas!" with each missed shot as a joke in the last game of season 1, and every game I lost my voice screaming after a goalaso, Villa has been the reason for so many memories in only 4 years.

I'll be honest, when I heard he was our DP I was a bit mad. I respected the hell out of him due to his dismantling of the German DFB tournament after tournament, but also why I hated all Spanish national team players. However, once I realized he was in this for more than just a nice check, he won me over. I even got my first flocked kit with his name on it, and will definitely get it on last years away kit as a final goodbye and thank you.

This is going to take a long ass time to get over. Thanks for everything, Papi.
 
I tried to prepare myself, we knew it was happening, but I still wasn’t ready.

Villa has been my favorite player for the past 10 years. I was ecstatic to find out he was coming to MLS, at a time I was just getting back into it. As a non NYer, I came to NYCFC for Villa. I’m hooked now, and I am here to stay (although I hate them right now).

He has had some incredible moments that I am happy to say I watched (and probably rewatched), and he has been pure class on and off the field.

The FO has definitely had their issues, but they hit a grand slam getting Villa as the club’s first player.
Arguably one of the most competitive athletes I've ever had the pleasure of watching play. I've been lucky enough to have been able to watch a ton of amazing, world-class professional athletes, but not sure if any of them were as competitive as David Villa was.

And that extends to both on and off the field. From giving the Match 34 speech in Year 1 in Spanish, to doing it all in English the next year. And one of my favorite parts of the Behind the Scenes videos are when he would have been subbed off, and he's standing at the video board, cheering nonstop for the team, as if he's 8 years old.

Legend.