FC Barcelona forward David Villa is finally set to return to the field after a long break, according to Spanish sports newspapers. It is reported that the thirty-year-old Spaniard will most likely play in a friendly match against Manchester United. The match is set to take place on August 8th at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.
The Barcelona forward has not played since suffering a serious injury in the Club World Cup semi-final against Al-Sadd in December of last year. Villa fractured his tibia in that match, and Barcelona's medical staff immediately predicted that he would be out for at least seven months.
Although there were rumors that David Villa could recover in time for the start of the European Championship, the footballer himself admitted at the end of spring that he had not been able to regain the necessary fitness. Villa personally called Spain's national team coach Vicente del Bosque and asked not to be called up to the team. In the tournament held in Poland and Ukraine, Spain managed to defend their champion title for the first time in history.
David Villa also missed the first friendly matches of the new season, in which Barcelona, playing with an experimental lineup, defeated Hamburger SV 2:1 in Germany.