Villa recovery ahead of schedule

David Villa has given both Spain and Barcelona a boost by revealing that he is already back in the gym as he recovers from a broken leg.

It is barely over a month since the striker was forced to undergo surgery on the tibia he fractured during the Club World Cup but Villa posted a video on his Facebook profile on Friday of him on an exercise bike.

“The leg is getting better each day and I’m getting stronger,” the former Valencia ace wrote beneath the clip.

Villa’s post suggests that Dr Ramon Cugat, the surgeon who operated on the forward, was correct when he claimed that the player could be out of action for as little as four months, meaning he should have time to try to secure himself a place in Spain’s squad for Euro 2012.

The 30-year-old, who is his country’s all-time record goalscorer, has netted 23 times in 49 appearances for Barca since arriving from the Mestalla in the summer of 2010.