I’m Back, Baby! And Villa Will Be Too!

By: Cesar | July 2nd, 2008

Hello my fellow Valencia supporters!

I’m back and boy, it’s been quite the summer so far!

David Villa transfer rumors, a supposed buyer for the club, a new kit …

Oh, and did you hear that Spain won the European championship??

What a summer! What an unbelievable time to be not only a Valencia fan, but a Spain supporter …

If you’ve followed my Spain blog on the Euro 2008 site, you know I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Spain and Valencia for a week last month.

I’ll post some photos for everyone’s amusement in the coming weeks. I got some great shots of Mestalla along with the shock of my life: a litter of kittens living in the grandstand of the stadium!

I was also able to chat about the team with almost everyone I came into contact with. Taxi drivers, bartenders, homeless people … you name them, they chatted about the club with me. So I’ll share some of their opinions as well.

Three regrets on my trip to Valencia:
1.) No pictures of the new stadium.
I just didn’t have the time to get over there.

2.) I didn’t get the new kit.
It came out a day after I left …

3.) I wasn’t there to see Spain capture Euro 2008.
Talk about bad timing! Couldn’t I have been born a few days later? Uggh …

Nevertheless, it was great to see old friends, including the Mestalla.

So now that Spain are European champions and Valencia stalwarts David Villa, David Silva, Raul Albiol and Carlos Marchena have European hardware, what next?

For starters, how about the news that star striker and Euro 2008 Golden Boot/Pichichi
David Villa wants to stay?

Don’t believe me? Take a look at this article with comments from Villa made at yesterday’s celebration for the new Euro champions in Valencia, where the crowd chanted ‘Villa, Quedate!’ …

David Villa says he intends to stay at Valencia “for many years”, despite the Spanish club admitting they have had a number of offers for the forward. …

“I am happy here,” Villa said. “I hope I can continue for many years, including more than I have signed for. I’m under contract and I’m very happy.” …

Agustin Morera, the club’s president, says he intends to fight to keep (Silva and Villa). “If we had wanted to transfer them [Villa and Silva], it wasn’t that it didn’t happen because of a lack of offers,” he said. “Last year was the same as now, we have offers on the table for them. But our interest is that they stay, that is our hope as well as to have a very great team.”

So there … Villa stays. Well, we hope so …

Until then, we wring our hands, hoping the news is true … and we celebrate what’s so far been an exceptional summer.

Now, the true works starts.
The transfer period is alive and well and Valencia have barely made a blip.

What’s to become of our beloved?
What moves will we make to bolster an underachieving squad that finished mid-table last season? How will we be able to afford both Silva and Villa with the massive debt on our hands?
Will the cats living in Mestalla survive?
What does Unai Emery have up his sleeve?
Will Juan Villalonga buy the team?
What size shirt should I buy?

Stay tuned! I’m back and it feels oh so good!!