David Villa, seen here during Atlético Madrid's Champions League final defeat, has signed for the MLS newcomers. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
The newly-formed Major League Soccer club, who are jointly owned byManchester City and the New York Yankees, confirmed on their Twitter account that the 32-year-old was their first-ever player.
The club tweeted: “Welcome to New York City: David Villa (@Guaje7Villa) officially signs as #NYCFC’s first ever player. #VillatoNYCFC.”
Villa makes the move to America after helping Atlético Madrid win their first Primera División title since 1996 last season and also reach the Champions League final, where they lost to Real Madrid.
Before joining Atlético in the summer of 2013, Spain’s record goalscorer spent three hugely successful seasons at Barcelona while he has also represented Valencia, Real Zaragoza and Sporting Gijón.
Villa, who has never before played his club football outside Spain, said during an interview posted on the Atlético website on Sunday that he was embarking on a new challenge after receiving “an irresistible opportunity”, although he did not specify what it was or where.
However, there was widespread speculation that Villa was headed to New York City and that move was confirmed on Monday.
Villa said on his new club’s website: “Throughout my career I’ve always tried to keep pushing myself to achieve new targets and this represents another important goal for me.
“I want to try and help MLS continue to grow, through playing, working hard, scoring goals and at the same time try to make New York City FC become the best team in the league.
“It’s a real honour that the people who have formed the club have focused their attention on me. I’m keen to do the best I can, take on board that extra responsibility and prove my worth by repaying the confidence they have shown in me.”
Aside from his success at Atlético, the Asturias-born Villa won two Primera División crowns and the Champions League among a host of titles at Barcelona, while he also lifted the Copa del Rey with Valencia and Zaragoza.
For Spain, Villa, who is part of Vicente del Bosque’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, won the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup and his tally of 56 goals is a national record.
New York City’s sporting director, Claudio Reyna, said: “David is the perfect first signing for New York City FC. His individual accomplishments are remarkable.
“His experiences, including winning the 2010 World Cup, will be invaluable for building our club’s sporting culture. I couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to New York City and have him as our club’s first player.”
With New York City not starting their inaugural MLS campaign until next March, it remains to be seen whether there will be an opportunity for Villa to go out on loan in the meantime as otherwise he could be without competitive football for around seven months following this summer’s World Cup.
As well as Villa, there was also speculation over the weekend that the England midfielder Frank Lampard could be headed to the New York franchise with his contract up at Chelsea, although there has been no confirmation yet where the 35-year-old will be plying his trade next season.
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