David Villa Facts: Net Worth, Career, Salary, Number, Wife
David Villa’s Intro
David Villa, who was nicknamed “El Guaje”, was widely acclaimed as one of the best strikers of his generation and also one of the best Spanish forwards of all time. The “El Guaje” nickname, which means The Kid in Asturian, was given to him due to his reputation for playing football with players older than himself. He started his legendary football career with Sporting Gijon B back in 2000 and retired with Japanese club Vissel Kobe. However, the Spanish striker was mostly renowned for his time with La Liga giants Barcelona where he lifted several trophies and claimed several honours which spiked David Villa net worth in the long run.
David Villa Age & Career
David Villa descended on the world on December 3rd, 1981. He was born in a small parish in Langreo, Asturias as the son of Jose Manuel Villa. His ambidextrous ability at the football pitch was the result of a childhood injury he suffered in his right leg, and his father played a pivotal role in ensuring he made a complete recovery. Villa had previously admitted that he came close to giving up football at the age of 14 when he had a fall out with his coach at the time. However, his parents motivated and encouraged him to remain on that path and three years later, he kicked off his football career at UP Langreo when he joined Mareo football school.
His impressive talent at a young age attracted interest from several Asturian teams and he ultimately joined Sporting de Gijon. He started from the team youth ranks before finally making his first-team debut during the 2000/01 season. He went on to score 25 goals in two seasons to become a regular in Gijon’s starting eleven. He managed to raise his goal tally to 40 in his final season with the club before he was sold to Real Zaragoza in 2003.
He was signed to Zaragoza for €3 million and he had no troubles adapting to life with his new club at the time as he was able to bag 17 goals in his debut season for the team, the same season he scored his first hat-trick. He spent two seasons with Zaragoza and helped them lift one Copa del Rey trophy and a Supercopa de Espana in 2004 after contributing 39 goals and 4 assists in 94 appearances for the club in all competitions. Zaragoza developed their own financial difficulties and was in need of money, they ended up selling Villa to Valencia for €12 million in the summer of 2005. He was no slouch for Valencia either as he went on to deliver impressive performances for the club, going as far as scoring in big La Liga games. In his first season, he was able to score 28 goals in 47 appearances for the club which included his five minutes hat-trick goal – one of the quickest hat-tricks in history. He represented Valencia for four seasons registering 225 appearances in which he scored 129 goals and provided 25 assists. He helped the club lift one Copa del Rey title in the 2007/08 campaign. 
In May 2010, he was sold to Barcelona for €40 million. At Camp Nou, many Barca fans were excited about the deal and were anticipating his arrival at the club. He played a pivotal role in helping Barcelona clinch the UEFA Champions League title, La Liga title, and Supercopa de Espana in the same 2010/11 season with his 23 goals and 12 assists. He went on to represent the club for three seasons lifting another La Liga and Supercopa de Espana title in the process as well as one UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
He joined Atletico Madrid in 2013 and played for one season to win the 2013 La Liga title before moving to New York City FC to contend in the Major League Soccer. He spent four seasons with the American club before moving to Japan to join Vissel Kobe. After helping the club win the Emperor’s Cup title in 2019, David Villa announced his retirement from football.
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David Villa Net Worth & Salary
David Villa was a prolific player loved by many football fans across the world, and being popular meant big brands will look to sign a contract with him as an ambassador. This played a role in David Villa net worth. He has been seen in several charity events hosted by UNICEF, and he was featured in EA Sports’ FIFA video game series.
David Villa Net worth is $50 million and his salary is slated at $7 million per year. He invested as an owner of Queensboro FC, which competes in the USL Championship in the United States.
David Villa Number
Despite being a striker, David Villa’s name has always been synonymous with the number 7 jersey. In his breakout season with Sporting Gijon, he wore the number 29 jersey for two seasons before changing it to 16 for another two seasons, and eventually to the number 9 jersey which he wore for a campaign before being sold to Real Zaragoza. At Zaragoza, he wore the number 20 and 9 jersey in his two seasons with them. Following that, he went on to wear the number 7 jersey throughout his stay with Valencia, Barcelona, New York City FC and Vissel Kobe.
David Villa Wife
In 2003, David Villa got married to his childhood sweetheart, Patricia Gonzalez. Like her husband, Patricia also had a talent for football when she was younger, however, she didn’t pursue it as a professional career.
To the couple, three children were birthed: Zaida, Olaya and Luca. Olaya was named after the wife of Fernando Torres, who is a close friend of Patricia. The three children’s names were engraved on his customized Adidas F50 boots.
What Is He Doing?
David Villa is currently the head of Global Football Operations at Odisha FC of the Indian Super League. He is also a member of the technical committee, and his role is to advise the coaching staff, improve Indian youth players, and give support during pitch activities and others.
David Villa Facts: Did You Know?
- Alongside Fernando Torres, David Villa has the most hat-trick (3) scored for Spain.
- He was Valencia’s top scorer for five whole seasons.
- He came out on top for the most assists in La Liga in the 2006/07 campaign.
- With 59 international goals to his name, he is currently Spain’s all-time goalscorer.
- He is also Spain’s all-time goalscorer in FIFA World Cup games with 9 goals.
- He has the largest streak of games scored for Spain: 6
- He is New York City FC’s all-time top scorer with 80 goals to his name.
- He won the Prince of Asturias Award in 2010.
