Tony Villa Valladolid returns this Saturday and will set foot in the stadium that saw him grow as a player and the one that opened the door to professional football. This visit to José Zorrilla has been marked on the calendar since the last day of the summer market, when he left the Pucelano club, and that is that returning “home” is always special. Now he wears the Girona shirt and does not hide that “I am very happy to return to what was my home for many years. I have many friends there, family and a hobby that loves me very much. I usually talk to the people there and I made friends that are for life. But during the match, hopefully we can do well and get a good result”.
Toni Villa was trained in the Pucela youth academy and the blanquivioleta fans are expected to receive him in very good manners. The winger reached the Annexes in 2011 and he will never be able, nor will he, to forget his time at the club that saw him grow and gave him the opportunity to debut in the First Division in August 2018. From 2011 until the last summer market, with the exception of the 2016-17 campaign in which he was at Cultural Leonesa, he wore the Valladolid shirt. With the first team he played 155 official matches and celebrated two promotions to First Division. “Both for them and for us it is an important game and the fans will surely be devoted to the team, as always. On an individual level I expect a good reception, it has been there all my life and I gave everything for the Valladolid shield and the club. I’m sure people will appreciate it, as I do with the support they’ve always given me,” he stated.
At 28 years old, Toni Villa is in a great moment of maturity. Míchel is managing to get a great version of him and, In the 23 games played with the rojiblanca shirt, he has signed a goal and three assists. He is currently linking three duels as a starter and does not hesitate to comment that he is going through an exceptional state of form: “I am counting on the confidence of the coach, especially in recent games. I’m in a good moment and I’m happy to help”, he said to later reaffirm that “It is true that I am playing football a little different from what I had been doing during my career, a little less showy. But I am being effective, helping the team to generate scoring chances, knowing how to guide pressure and defend better in the mid and low blocks. I have to continue contributing these things and have more imbalance, which is what I am missing a bit now and what has been my virtue ”.
Focused on Girona, Toni Villa does not hide the fact that this matchday could end his permanence and that is, without a doubt, the goal: “The team is on a very positive streak and is euphoric. We have salvation at our fingertips, we can close it even this week and hopefully it will happen, but we are not setting a ceiling either. Then we will have to look for higher positions”. And if Girona is one step away from reaching salvation, Valladolid cannot be confused because the descent burns. The winger wants the Pucelano club to continue in the highest category of Spanish football and he confirmed that “they stand out for their energy to go forward. They go to sack, for the rival from minute one. If we manage to be calm, maintain possession and not give away situations, we can do them a lot of damage”.