Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that he had doubts whether David Silva would succeed in the Premier League when he joined the Citizens from Valencia in the summer of 2010. The former Spain international had the choice of joining of some of the elite teams across Europe but he was tempted by the project presented by the Mancunian giants.
Since then, he has racked over 400 appearances for the side across all competitions and during this period, he has become one of the most important players in the club’s history. Speaking in a recent press conference, Guardiola admitted personally that he had concerns over the midfielder’s physique when he made the move to the Etihad Stadium.
He told: “He’s a tiny little player. My image of English football when I was outside, I thought, ‘Maybe he’s going to suffer’, but I was happily, happily wrong. To do 400 games means many years, many bad moments and many good moments and being there day-by-day, week-by-week and I admire that. You can make a good season, but he’s done it for almost 10. It’s incredible. For City fans, me included, it’s a privilege to see what he’s done at the club.”
Silva has been a consistent performer for the Citizens over the course of the past nine seasons and during this period, he has gone on to lift the Premier League crown on four separate occasions. Two of those have come in the past two campaigns and he has the opportunity to win a hat-trick of league titles with the Citizens before pursuing a fresh challenge elsewhere.
Silva’s future has been a regular discussion point over the past few seasons but the Spaniard has now confirmed that he would be leaving the Premier League holders after a decade of service. The 33-year-old contributed a couple of assists during the Citizens’ 3-1 triumph at Bournemouth last weekend.