'Being at City changed my life' - 15 years since Silva signing
Silva is a four-time Premier League winner - the last coming in 2019
- Published
It is 15 years to the day since Manchester City signed 24-year-old David Silva from Valencia for £24m in 2010.
Thus began a trophy-laden decade in Manchester, where Silva won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five League Cups, making 436 appearances and scoring 77 goals.
Silva joined City in the same summer as Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng
Two of his four Premier League titles were won in back-to-back seasons under Pep Guardiola in 2018 and 2019, and the great Spanish manager labelled Silva, external "one of the greats, not only in Spanish football but in European football as well".
Silva and Guardiola won six trophies together at City
However, Silva's impact at City began well before Guardiola's arrival. The footballing sea change from red to blue in Manchester was ignited by the Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008, and realised by the famous 6-1 win at Old Trafford in October 2011.
Silva ran the match, scoring and providing an exquisite assist for Edin Dzeko.
Having ended a 35-year wait for a major trophy just a few months early by winning the FA Cup - after defeating United in the semi-final - City went on to win their first Premier League title that season, on goal difference over their neighbours.
In City's first ever Premier League winning season, Silva was named in the PFA Team of the Year
Silva was also part of the Spain squads that won the 2010 World Cup and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012. He represented his country 125 times, scoring 35 goals.
Silva is seventh in Spain's all-time appearance list
Former team-mate Carlos Tevez described him as "the best signing we have made, external", while Frank Lampard - who played alongside him in the 2014-15 season - said: "I'd put him right in the top bracket of the best players I've played with - he could play in any team in the world."
A statue of Silva was unveiled outside Etihad Stadium in 2021, a year after he returned to Spain with Real Sociedad.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak called him, "a transformational player, a quiet leader who has acted quietly and deliberately and inspired everyone around him."
On seeing the statue, Silva added: "Being at City changed my life. I'm proud of what we did together and I feel emotional that it has been recognised like this."
The statue of Silva was unveiled alongside one of former City captain Vincent Kompany
