Melbourne City CEO Scott Munn hopes David Villa can return Adelaide United coach Josep Gombau shakes hands with David Villa after the game between United and Melbourne City. Melbourne City CEO Scott Munn has not given up hope of Spanish superstar David Villa returning to the club in December. Villa has already left Australia after playing just four of a maximum 10 games allowed as part of his guest stint with the reborn A-League club. The 32-year-old has departed for New York as part of his promotional commitments to new Major League Soccer outfit New York City before their inaugural season, which begins in March. But even though Melbourne City captain Patrick Kisnorbo admitted on Thursday that having Villa at the club was something of a distraction, Munn believes the World Cup-winning striker brought a positive influence. "It was pretty incredible for us to have David here and in terms of what he contributed to the club and to the players was fantastic," Munn told SEN on Thursday. We're really confident that there is still more opportunity for David to come back and continue to work with us - it's pretty cold in the middle of winter in New York. His work ethic [and] the way he conducted himself was something that I've never seen with elite athletes. It was absolutely a level above and it was great for us as a club and I think for the general public. Despite Villa's time at Melbourne City being widely criticised due to its unexpected brevity, and Kisnorbo's misgivings about the exercise, Munn insisted the club was undeterred and would continue to try to lure big-name players. "I'm certain at times it was difficult for the players, but on the whole the feedback is that it was a positive experience having him [Villa] here and we'll continue to look to bring people in like David," Munn said. We'll continue to work hard to bring the best footballers that we can in that enhance both our club and the competition. Whether it be Frank Lampard, whether it be another player, we're going to continue to challenge ourselves to do that. I think the opportunities certainly will present themselves, it's whether they're embraced and whether we can actually make it work, but I think it's great for football. I've never seen a bigger buzz around some of these young men coming to town - that's what's important for everyone is that we're able to continue to grow the game. Munn said the recruitment of Josh Kennedy on Thursday was part of Melbourne City's succession plan for when Villa departed. The tall Socceroos striker will join the club in January after his contract with J.League club Nagoya Grampus expires. While Kennedy and Villa are very different players, Munn was confident it would not affect Melbourne City's game plan. " [Coach] John van `t Schip has a number of different roles that he gets his number nines to play," Munn said. I think having him [Damien Duff] alongside Josh and Mate Dugandzic pushing back out on the left we're really in a good place.