“He spoke to me for no more than 15 seconds,” said the 22-year-old.
“In that time. an accomplice approached on another motorbike opened the other car door and stole my phone, wallet and jacket. So if any of my team-mates at City are wondering why I’ve not been in touch, it’s because I’ve lost all your numbers.”
Aside from that chastening experience, Weiss is loving life in Barcelona.
“It’s a great city with wonderful weather and I live near the sea with my two dogs who follow me everywhere,” he revealed in a marked Manchester accent, developed when he moved into digs in Didsbury at 15.
City spotted him playing for Slovakia’s under-17s in Northern Ireland’s Milk Cup and nipped ahead of Arsenal to sign the promising winger – and Weiss might well return to Manchester.
“I’ve still got a contract at City until the end of next year so I’ll probably go back in the summer and do pre-season,” he said.
“But I don’t really know what’s happening. I have to see how the season goes here and what offers I have at the end of the season.”
Weiss was a star in City’s youth team which won the 2008 FA Youth Cup. He made his first team debut a year later against Bolton, the club which he was loaned to in 2010.
“I didn’t play as much as I hoped at Bolton,” he admitted. “I sat on the bench with Jack Wilshere a lot, but the disappointment made me mentally stronger.”
He then played for Slovakia in the 2010 World Cup before going on loan to Glasgow Rangers last season.
“Rangers was fantastic,” he said. “We won the league and the cup and even though the league is not the best, it was tough for a 21-year-old and I really enjoyed it. Rangers are a big well-supported club and I played in the Champions League too, which is where I want to play again.”
Weiss’ ambition lay not in Scotland, but the Premier League or Spain’s La Liga.
“I spoke to Roberto Mancini about my situation. It’s not easy to play every week at City because of the number of top quality players,” he added.
“When I heard that Espanyol were interested I was keen to move and it has gone well. The football is very different to England but the game here suits me.
“It’s fast and not as direct as England. It’s less physical too. I was used to playing the English way and got five yellows in my first five games.
“I’m not a dirty player at all, it just took some time to adjust.”
There are almost 40 Spaniards working as professional footballers in England.
There’s not a single Englishman doing the same in Spain, yet several Manchester City players have moved to Spain on loan.
Felipe Caicedo thrived so much at Levante that he earned a £7m move to Lokomotiv Moscow last July, while Roque Santa Cruz is doing well at Real Betis – though he’ll have to do well to score at Camp Nou against Barcelona on Sunday as they haven’t conceded a home league goal all season.
Weiss played against the Spanish, European and World champions last week.
“We got a draw so it was a good result,” he said.
"I played against Barca with City and we beat them in a friendly match so I’ve played twice against them and not lost.”
Espanyol are prospering, lying eighth in the league and in the cup quarter-finals.
A return to Manchester is out of his hands and he has no idea if he could be part of Mancini’s future plans.
“I don’t miss the weather but I miss certain things about Manchester,” he said. “The clothes, my house. It’s a good city.”
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Would have been handy to have on the bench for the last two cup games
Dunno. Was hoping so; seemed a decent player who just needed to develop a bit more physically and as a team player. Has the skills though.
I suppose he's getting good experience where he is so you never know...
I wish him every success and would love to see him have it with us. I was at the Youth Cup final - didn't he score with a superb free kick? I was also at the Barca friendly he mentions and he had a great match. That visit to the Nou Camp - in the Gods - was an awsome experience made all the better because, if memory serves right, United lost at Burnley on the same night! Shall never forget the inebriated afternoon on the beach with hundreds of CTID's and my CTID French missus.
Wish him all the best and has always caught my eye when I've seen him :)
A better long term prospect than Adam Johnson
He has looked OK when I've seen him this season but he's not pulling up trees for Espanyol. Hopefully we will get a decent fee for him as I don't see him featuring for us.
Would like to see him remain on our books, a good prospect for the future always catches the eye when he plays, whether its in a world cup, champs league or when he was in the reserves. Hope we keep hold of him.
Thinks hes all that,ship him out asap.
CTID
I think he is good enough to be part of our squad. AJ has lost form of late. Yes he does score some spectacular goals but his overall contribution is poor.
He seemed to be doing ok and then had quite an impressive World Cup. He came back to nothing though and went out on loan. Maybe not quite good enough for us any more but he's doing fine where he is and could be an interesting addition to few of the 2nd tier "big" PL clubs i.e Newcastle, Sunderland. Wish him well though.
espanyol are better than citeh. massive facht!
He was one of the better players in the pre-season build-up here in America. I think his contribution would be at least equal to that of Adam Johnson who I like but does not seem to have the stamina for a full 90 minute impact. Both are capable of beating a man by individual dribbling but both still have a tendency to over-dribble and lose the ball. Adam probably has an edge in his shooting ability. On balance though, I would say that if Adam is worthy of his place in the squad then Vlad could also be given a chance.
Nice place to be to further a career and nice country to experience. Good luck to Vlad The Impaler, hope to see him back one day..
Just not good enough.....
His main problem use to be his lack of physical presence - his skill and touch have never been in question - but he's now really filled out, and far less likely to be shunted off the ball.
He had a great pre-season and I was disappointed not to see him in the squad this year. I think he should be given a chance next season, providing his pre-season is good, as we only have one natural winger and I really do think he could make the grade.
Weiss and Sturridge were the shining lights in a great youth team and look where Mr Sturridge is now - I think we have a similar player in young Vlad.
RSC did score against Barca on Sunday at the Nou Camp. Barca went on to win 4-2 when Betis went down to 10 men.....
get him back after some experience as he will develop into a good / decent player.
Weiss is certainly getting the experience with the SPL and La Liga. However, this is to keep him playing regularly (He wouldn't in the EPL). A decision whether to keep him or not could be made after the next pre-season dependent on progress made.