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David Villa to leave Melbourne City after Round 4 - return doubtful

22nd October, 2014
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Melbourne City's David Villa - has he played his last game for the side? (Dan Himbrechts/ AAP)
22nd October, 2014
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David Villa, Melbourne City’s Spanish star and one of the best players to grace the A-League, will depart the club after Round 4 to head to New York.

Villa is contracted with New York City, and is playing in the A-League as a guest stint, with Manchester City the owners to both Melbourne and New York clubs.

In a statement, Melbourne City said that the number of games he will play, should he return to Australia after heading to the States, is still up in the air.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have David as a member of our squad for the first part of the A-League 2014-15 season. We would obviously want a player of his calibre to represent the club in as many games of the guest allowance as possible between now and the commencement of MLS pre-season training in January.

“The precise number of A-League games that David will play will be determined by the best interests of the player and his now New York-based family and the prioritisation of the requirements of both New York City FC and Melbourne City FC.

“That means that his playing and training schedule will be the product of all of those factors and subject to ongoing assessment.”

Villa is reportedly required to fulfil marketing obligations with his new club, putting his return to Australia in doubt.

Fans have taken to Twitter to express their feelings over the idea of Villa only playing four games in the A-League.

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Originally touted as a 10-game guest stint, we are unlikely to see Villa play that many games for his adopted Australian club.

The news compounds the loss of fellow marquee Robert Koren, who has been ruled out of A-League action until at least December.

The Slovenian midfielder has suffered a recurrence of a calf muscle injury and coach John van `t Schip says it’ll be four weeks before he can even resume training.

Villa has scored two goals in his two appearances for the club.

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