16.08.2010 19:59

Villa: “I’m really keen to compete"

Anna Segura

On Monday afternoon, David Villa gave his first press conference since he started training as a Barça player. He revealed that he’s itching to get out on the pitch and put himself at Guardiola’s disposal for the return leg of the Super Cup.

Next Saturday, when the Camp Nou hosts the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, it’ll be exactly three months since Villa put pen to paper on the deal which brought him to FC Barcelona. It’s been a long wait and the Spanish international striker can’t wait to compete for his new club. However, with just a few days training under his belt he knows that he can’t afford to overstretch himself. As he told the assembled reporters: “It’ll be a long season”.

Debut still a doubt

Villa, along with the rest of his international team-mates that had to delay their return to training, has still not caught up with the rest of the squad in terms of match fitness: “We’ve got a week ahead of us to train. We’ve only just started but I’ll try and get fit for the manager as soon as possible. “I’m really keen to compete at 100%, to train and to get moving on this new stage of my career”.

A fight back is possible

Villa is convinced Barça are good enough to overturn the deficit from the first leg of the Super Cup: “It was an unfavourable result but Barça have made a thousand comebacks like this. I believe we can turn the tie around. We’ve played half a final and the score is against us. But the other half is in the Camp Nou, in front of the Barça fans, fans who want a fight back, and Barça is a team that can overcome that score line, not just against Sevilla but against any team in the world”.

No goal targets

David Villa is a bit too superstitious to set himself a goal target for the season: “I hope that with work and the help of my team-mates, I can score as many goals as possible, to the benefit of Barça.”

Asked if he can play in any other position apart from centre forward, Villa explained: “I can perform pretty well out on the left. I’m aware of my team-mates and the positions I can play in to help the team”. Finally, he assured reporters that he would be completely “compatible” with Ibrahimovic.