Atletico Madrid skipper Gabi has hailed the club’s capture of Spain international striker David Villa from Barcelona for a measly € 5.1 million to fill in the void left by Radamel Falcao who left the capital giants for a big money move to French club AS Monaco this summer. The midfielder has claimed the signing of the player by the club this summer only goes to show that it means business following its return to the UEFA Champions League after a prolonged gap.

And according to Gabi, the signing of Villa could prove pivotal for the club because he has a lot of experience playing in the competition and having won it with Barcelona in 2011, knows what it takes to succeed there. The Madrid giants completed the deal for Spain’s top scorer in international football a couple of weeks back now and Gabi believes that the club conducted a fantastic piece of business by signing David Villa.

Speaking to reporters at the club’s pre-season training, Gabi stated that Villa is an absolutely world class player and he will prove to be a magnificent signing for the club. He went on to add that it is still too early to comment on whether the team has improved upon last season but did mention that they have brought in two brilliant players in Villa and Argentina defender Martin Demichelis from Malaga.

Gabi asserted that their main objective is to return to the UEFA Champions League as well as have the sort of stability that will make it easy for the club to build in the future.
David Villa falls in a long line of world class strikers Atletico have had over the last decade with Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan and then Radamel Falcao and Villa will have big boots to fill this season.