David Villa Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: ; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise New York City and the Spain national team. He also acts as the captain of New York City. He is nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian) because as a youngster he frequently played football with children much older than him.
Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, Villa started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga debut, winning the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season. Villa hit his La Liga goalscoring peak while at Valencia, scoring 28 league goals in the 2008–09 season. In 2010, he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million, where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. He was one of the goalscorers in the 2011 final of the Champions League as Barcelona defeated Manchester United, 3–1. After a €5.1 million transfer, he spent the 2013–14 season at Atlético Madrid, winning another La Liga title before leaving to play for New York City.