There’s a chance David Villa still could be playing for New York City FC after this season.
The reigning MLS MVP told The Post he remains in conversations about a possible extension. His three-year Designated Player deal expires at the end of this coming season.
“We are in conversation I said a long time ago,” Villa said from Jacksonville, where NYCFC’s preseason takes place. “But this isn’t important now. I have one year left of my contract. My objective is to be good this year.”
Though it’s fair to dream of Villa potentially playing in The Bronx past this season, he’s crossing into uncharted waters when it comes to age.
Villa, 35, led NYCFC’s league-leading attack with 23 goals last season. With hopes he can replicate his MVP form, he said NYCFC has a specific plan for him to remain healthy through training and rest.
But this season, Villa will have added pressure with the loss of a few key players.
NYCFC lost oft-injured Frank Lampard, their second leading scorer with 12 goals, who returned to England once his contract ran out. Midfielders Andoni Iraola and Federico Bravo, who each appeared in most of the team’s games, won’t appear on the field. A slew of fresh faces, nine in total, will don the blue and white this coming season.
They will bank on third-overall pick Jonathan Lewis from the University of Akron, whose 12 assists were tied for first in the NCAA, and newly acquired Finnish international Alexander Ring, who was just purchased from Kaiserslautern in 2. Bundesliga.
As the team gets set to travel to Ecuador to face C.S. Emelec in a friendly match on Feb. 8 (fans can watch live at NYCFC.com), Villa said he likes what he has seen so far in preseason — but admits they must improve in all aspects of the game.
“We need to improve everything,” Villa said. “We are a young team, but we’re [young] in the right way. We were way better in the second year than the first. But the first objective is to be fighting for the cup. We need to improve, we need to be better than last year.”
One area of concern from last season is their defense. NYCFC will need to improve their putrid backline, which surrendered an MLS-worst 64 goals last season, including the 7-0 embarrassment on May 21 against the Red Bulls.
Though MLS continues to force-feed New York City soccer fans with this at-times artificial rivalry, Villa, who said it’s great for the city, views the heated matchup as any other.
“I [don’t hate the Red Bulls],” Villa said with a laugh. “In my career, it’s three points. It’s the same with Red Bulls as it’s the same with Colorado [Rapids]. We need to be focused against 21 teams.”
Though he’s far away from his glory days with European giant Barcelona, Villa remains happy in MLS and said he thinks the league is competitive and growing.
He even hinted MLS has foreign players’ curiosity.
“[Players] want to know about the league,” Villa said. “Players in Europe and around the world want to play in this league.”
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