David Villa: Arsenal’s Style Would Have Suited Me….

Barcelona striker David Villa has admitted that he likes the way Arsenal play and that their style of football would have suited him had he opted to join them instead of heading to the Nou Camp.

The Gunners take on the Catalan giants in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday and Villa, who moved to Barca from Valencia in the summer, is full of praise for the north London club.

“As a spectator I like the way Arsenal play with quick one or two-touch football,” he told the Independent.

“Their style would have suited me well. I also had friends at Liverpool and from what I have heard from team-mates, players learn a lot when playing under Rafa Benitez, but that did not happen.”

Villa also praised Tottenham’s progress in this season’s Champions League and admitted their run to the last 16 of the competition has not been a surprise.

Spurs face AC Milan in the first leg of their first knockout round tie on Tuesday and the Spaniard insists Harry Redknapp’s side have a number of “very good players”.

“They were at a disadvantage at the start of the competition, not having played in it before, but they got a couple of great games under their belt and that levelled the playing field straight away,” he continued.

“You can’t call their run a surprise because you only have to look at their team sheet to see how many very good players they have.”

Villa made the move to the Nou Camp in the summer following years of speculation that he could make a switch to the Premier League and the Spain international admits he was lucky that Valencia finally agreed to sell him.

“I got used to the stories that I was going to England,” Villa added. “You work just the same on the pitch but you definitely get a boost when your future is sorted out and everything calms down.

“Now I can switch off when I walk off the pitch, without the rumours that I once had to put up with.

“I was lucky that when the moment came when Valencia had no choice but to sell me, Barcelona were in a position to bring me here.

“I wanted to play here and I have been lucky enough that they wanted me as part of this team and that they were prepared to pay a lot of money to make it happen.”

Discussing his team-mate Lionel Messi, Villa claims the Argentine is the best player in the world and that he is capable of producing unrivalled moments of brilliance on a football pitch.

“There are players who do wonderful things on the football pitch and then there is Messi,” he added.

“He is the best in the world. I said that before I came here and now I can say it with even more authority. I am just glad that now I can enjoy playing alongside him instead of having to suffer playing against him.”