So New York City FC have their first player, and given that he's the all-time leading international Spanish goalscorer, and a player who just played 120 minutes of the Champions League final, you might assume he's a good one — at least for those not engaged in the active revisionism that goes on when a player has the temerity to cross the Atlantic.  David Villa was officially revealed as a City player by teleconference from New York on Monday lunchtime, while the player himself was still in midair, en route to join up with his Spanish team-mates in Washington where he will begin preparations for his third World Cup.  After the announcement of local hero, and former US and Manchester City man, Claudio Reyna as Director of Soccer, and the brightest young technical coach in MLS, Jason Kreis, as the first head coach, NYC were able to pull off a trio of strong first impressions on the footballing side with the confirmation of Villa as their marquee signing.  Immediate reaction online ranged from European puzzlement to expectation that Villa would instantly dominate MLS. He'd be in a minority among big name arrivals if he does, though like the most notable example of a player who hit the ground running, Robbie Keane, Villa's movement and finishing will give him every opportunity to do well from the start.  As for the puzzlement, when Villa arrived in D.C., he may have been surprised to learn from some of the reaction outside the USA that in midair he'd gone from being a free agent at Atletico who was being courted by top clubs around Europe, to having added five years' worth of wear and tear to his legs and that he'd officially landed in the retirement home by signing for NYC.  That's still the absurd sort of claim that even the best players go through when making the journey to MLS, in its continuing fight for global credibility. And while there may be merit in any case-by-case analysis that concludes that a player has sold himself short in any one move to any club, anywhere, the blanket assertions about the league, its prospects and the meaning of any European player's move there, don't do justice to MLS's steady emergence as a destination in the post-David Beckham years, and its sometimes painful but discernible integration into the global market, from its first "state of exception" era.  And in Villa's case, they don't do justice to a player with a global reputation who has taken on a significant risk (albeit one with a significant upside for his legacy should it work) in one of the toughest sports markets in the world. New York sports fans are notoriously indifferent to reputation — and the type of "what have you done for me lately?" pressure Villa could experience might have come as a surprise had he been the type expecting to collect checks and sign a few autographs in an extended dotage.  But the player who survived a tough stint at Barcelona and who has plundered 56 international goals for Spain in an era when teams mass ranks to prevent them scoring, is not shy of a challenge. Indeed, his personal virtues were referenced as much as his technical ones when City announced his arrival.  Yes, money is a factor, and when the MLS players union publishes their biannual salary report next spring, expect to see Villa very well compensated, as global players in their early 30s go. And it's unlikely Jermain Defoe or even Michael Bradley would have "relished the challenge" in Toronto quite as much without the significant number of zeroes on their pay checks.  But since the designated player rule, ushered in by Beckham's arrival at LA Galaxy in June 2007, and which now allows clubs to sign up to three players (plus so-called junior designated players), the profile of the average big name signing in MLS has begun to shift, and Villa, at 32 and still with plenty to offer, has become part of a newer paradigm.  The likes of Beckham (eventually), Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, and Tim Cahill, have been, or will be, around in their sides long enough to have teams built round them, as Seattle and Toronto will now do with Clint Dempsey and Bradley/Defoe respectively. Villa too, will expect to be the spearhead of a style of play inspired by NYC parent club Manchester City (whose youth ranks will help swell NYC squads through loans).  Not every player who arrives matches that strategic blueprint. Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta arrived with quality, but in the latter's case, little left in the tank when he came to Montreal Impact. And ironically, the other player linked with NYCFC, Frank Lampard, through his age and his diminishing powers, is more reminiscent of the one-last-payday style signing the league lived through in the 1990s especially.  All these big name choices represent an opportunity and a challenge. An ageing marquee name might help market a team in the short term, and may even add steadiness on the field within a brief tenure. Nesta's role in Montreal's defense for example, was at least as important as Di Vaio's goals in getting them to their first playoff campaign last year. And the same defense fell off alarmingly when he retired.  But in New York City's case, with the need to come out of the gate with a credible statement signing, the club's foregrounding of Villa as the archetype of a New York City player, was an important and necessary decision. Lampard would have (will have) the same level of global interest upon signing, but from a technical standpoint wouldn't have made the same impression as an initial statement of intent beyond the first year.  Jason Kreis spoke in the press conference of his personal satisfaction of landing a player who typified all of the technical footballing virtues he and Claudio Reyna prize. Kreis's Real Salt Lake sides worked hard on both sides of the ball, were technically proficient and were possessed of clinical finishers. Villa is an exemplar in these respects.  A Brazil v Spain World Cup final could feature a NYCFC striker up against a Toronto FC goalkeeper.....  And for New York City, starting play in the Bronx, the signing of a high-profile player with a direct appeal to the crucial Hispanic market was an equally important statement just before the spike in interest of a World Cup. That will be just one of the "checked boxes" Reyna and Kreis claim to have ticked off before this signing. For another, check the box marked "Unfazed by opinions in Europe."
Graham Parker: He's the latest big-name star to arrive in MLS – but David Villa has been acquired for much more than brand recognition