As David Villa prepares to bid Australia adios after Friday night's game against Adelaide United, he, more than anyone, will know that he has to make a major contribution to a Melbourne City win before he flies out to New York.

Another failure would not just hurt his team, it would diminish, even if only a little, the image in Australia of a man who does rank amongst the world's best players.

Villa came to the A-League at the height of his powers - his last competitive game before coming off the bench in City's round one draw with Sydney FC had been for Spain in the 3-0 World Cup win over Australia. That fact says a lot about the investment clout of City's owners, Manchester City, and the growing status of the A-League.

Alas for him and Melbourne City it appears that the 10-game stint he was originally said to be undertaking is to be abruptly ended on Friday, after just four matches, as New York City, his new club, comes calling.

Melbourne City officials are hopeful he will return, but that remains a decision likely to be made in Manhattan and Manchester, not the Victorian capital.

So how do we assess his impact?

Certainly he helped shift tickets and memberships. City has announced that it now has 10,260 members. The club drew 15,700 to AAMI Park for its first home game with Villa in the line-up, the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. That's probably three times what it was getting for similar fixtures in the past couple of seasons.

Were the punters sold a pig in a poke?

Were they lured into buying season tickets on a false premise?

No one forced them to buy anything. City perhaps didn't advertise it from the rooftops, but in the small print at press conferences it was advised that he might not stay the 10-game distance. Still, there will be some who feel they have been short-changed.

Coach John van 't Schip may find the waters clearer once Villa departs and he knows what he has to work with for the rest of the campaign.

Still, he knows a world class talent when he sees one.

"David wants to perform every game. It's in his mentality. He was disappointed as well about the last game, of the team performance, also about his own performance. He will surely want to leave with a good impression and after that we will see what happens.

"David coming here has been for us as a club. The amount of attention the new club got with him coming here, having him here on the pitch with all the boys, being a positive player within the sessions and also outside the sessions, that's all been very positive.

"As a club and organisation we will analyse how we can improve things for the future. Everybody loved the idea and the news to have him here in the league, but we should also analyse things we can do better so that if we do them in the future we can get more out of it for everybody. "