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Albelda - Villa Ronaldo's equal
International Football, 09:30, December 12, 2009 ,
Valencia midfielder David Albelda believes striker David Villa is worth as much as Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portuguese international Ronaldo made the switch to the Bernabeu from Manchester United in the summer for 94m euros after five successful years with the Premiership champions.
Los Che take on the capital outfit on Saturday evening but they will not have to face Ronaldo or fellow superstar Kaka, who are both ruled out of the fixture.
But Albelda feels that Real's summer spending means that they have the strength in depth to make up for the absence of their world-class players.
"Although they don't have Cristiano and Kaka, they have plenty of players to cover them," he told AS. "No wonder, they spent almost 300 million euros on new players this summer."
Valencia are looking to move level with Madrid with victory on Saturday night, while a win for Ronaldo's side could see them move to within two points of table-topping Barcelona, if the Catalans lose to Espanyol earlier in the evening.
Villa has 11 goals already this term and will be looking to add to that tally against Real, and Albelda feels the striker is the equal of Real's star man.
"After seeing what they paid for Benzema, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo I can assure you that Villa is closer to the price they paid for the Portuguese than they money they paid for the other two," he added. "El Guaje is one of the best strikers in the world."