As son of a miner David Villa was born in Tuilla, a small village in Langreo, Asturias, a region in northern Spain.

At the age of four he was left limp after suffering a severe fracture to his femur, but thanks to a non-invasive approach he was able to make a complete recovery.

Villa came close to giving up football at the age of 14 after growing disillusioned and falling out with his coach.

He received interest from many Asturian teams, however one of the province's bigger teams, Real Oviedo, declared he didn't have sufficient potential. He subsequently got his professional breakthrough at his local club Sporting de Gijón, following in the footsteps of his childhood idol Quini.