David Silva

Manchester City midfielder David Silva believes the club already have a ready-made replacement for him in the form of Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese footballer has excelled in a central midfield role during the course of the ongoing campaign and Silva feels his teammate has the qualities to take over from him, once he ends his association with the Citizens.

Silva told the club’s official website: “Bernardo is a brilliant player with lots of quality and works very hard. He's got a huge amount of quality. Football moves on, players come, and players go. But there's always someone to come in and fill your shoes and we're lucky that we've got lots of players to do that.”

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp has hailed the performance of David Silva after he opened the scoring during the Manchester derby. The former Spain international opened the scoring for Manchester City after just 12 minutes into the game and he was thereafter a regular presence in the opposition half as the Citizens romped to a rather comfortable 3-1 win.

Speaking after the game, Redknapp was appreciative of the efforts of Silva, who was constantly a menace in the United half with his distribution. He added that the Spaniard is getting better by the age and he can now be compared with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in terms of what he brings onto the playing field.

Graeme Souness and Jamie Carragher claim that Liverpool are lacking in a playmaker and that the club should sign a player like David Silva sooner rather than later. Liverpool were involved in a goalless draw with Manchester City during the weekend. This was seen as a great opportunity for the Reds to take a lead in the Premier League table. However, Liverpool were unable to take most of the essential since the team was disappointing in the final third of the pitch. The draw gives an advantage for City considering that they were playing away from home.

This was the fourth consecutive game for Liverpool without a win after the start of the campaign with a string of wins. The club will now how to hope for a return to winning ways when they take on Huddersfield Town after the international break and it would have been almost a month without a win for the Reds. Even though Liverpool have a strong attacking line-up with the likes of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and Roberto Firmino leading the line-up, Carragher and Souness feel that the lack of a playmaker is making such attacking players quite ineffective going forward. The onus of creating chances and scoring the effort lies within the front three and this is too much of a responsibility, according to the duo.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that David Silva should be proud of his achievements with the club after making his 350th appearance over the weekend. The former Spain international has been a consistent performer over the past nine years and he marked his 350th outing for City by scoring a goal in the 3-0 win against Fulham.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola was full of praise for the midfielder maestro and was pleased to have witnessed the Spaniard make his 350th Premier League appearance on Saturday, he said: “To play 350 games, you have to be here for a long time, healthy, positive and with a good mentality. It is a lot of games so he has to be so proud. I think the fans are proud of him but he has to be proud of himself also. To do that in England, to survive in a physical league with his type of play, it shows his intelligence on the pitch. It is a big number.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was pleased with the return of David Silva for Sunday’s league meeting against Huddersfield Town. The Spaniard had missed the Community Shield and the Premier League opener with a minor fitness concern but he marked his return against the Terriers in style by scoring a sumptuous goal in a thumping 6-1 victory.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola was full of praise for the Spaniard, who became only the third player in the club’s history after Vincent Kompany and Richard Dunne to make 250 Premier League appearances. He added to talk about Silva’s won Mateo, who was the special mascot for the Citizens’ opening game at the Etihad Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur and England striker Harry Kane believes Manchester City are the team to beat next season after romping to the Premier League title last term. The Citizens secured the English crown in blistering fashion after becoming the first top-flight team to rack 100 points and Kane feels Spurs need to have a ‘very good season’ in order to challenge Pep Guardiola’s team next term.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “It will take a very good season (to challenge Manchester City) but we've been up there for the last few years now. City had an amazing year last year but the Premier League is tough and it doesn't always happen like that to go year on year so we've just got to focus on ourselves and see what we can do.”

Former Spain international and David Silva close friend, David Villa believes that the playmaker will remain with Manchester City for a few more years. He said that his friend is happy playing for City and that there is no reason why he should be leaving.

David Villa believes that David Silva has been playing really well with Manchester City for the past few seasons and that he will only become better with Pep Guardiola as the head of the team. Silva is a highly technical player and that he loves to make things happen and for this type of player it is a blessing to play under the former Barcelona manager.

Spain international David Silva has stressed that he has no plans of retiring from international football in the near future. The Manchester City star came off a brilliant season in the Premier League where the Citizens won the title in a historic fashion and he is presently with the Spain national side at the World Cup.

Speaking to Marca, Silva indicated that he is not thinking about stepping down from international football and believes his game has improved with the experience gained, he said: “Of course, I'm older, but I don't have an expiry date. I'm not thinking about retirement and for as long as I feel this way I will continue to be available for selection. I've always been mentally strong, otherwise I wouldn't have been around this long, when I feel that I'm not contributing I'll raise my hand and say so. I've always put in a big physical effort, I'm playing more centrally now. I think I'm a better footballer now for all of my experience.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on David Silva following a strong season for the Citizens, where he contributed 10 goals and 13 assists across all competitions. The Spain international had missed certain parts of the campaign owing to the ill health of his newborn son but he nevertheless managed to maintain focus to guide City to their third Premier League title.

Speaking on ESPN Brazil, Guardiola hailed the showing of the Spain international through the campaign and compared his performances with those of Xavi and Iniesta whilst he was managing Barcelona, he said: “Xavi was a player with outstanding control and dynamic, he couldn't lose the ball. He could control the game rhythm, reading perfectly when to accelerate ... Andres is similar, but always changing the pace. And David Silva is a mixture between both of them. David also knows when to control and when to accelerate.”

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has highlighted Manchester City duo David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne as among the players, who could make the difference at the World Cup. The pair were crucial towards ending the Citizens’ three-season wait for the Premier League title as they broke several records last term.

Speaking to reporters, Messi indicated that City are the best-represented team at the global tournament ahead of Real Madrid. He continued to name the big-name players in different squads where Silva and De Bruyne were both mentioned. He said: “City have 16 players going to the World Cup, making them the best-represented club at the showpiece in Russia ahead of Real Madrid with 15. Brazil have Neymar and Philippe [Coutinho. Spain have Andres Iniesta and [David] Silva. Germany don't have any one star, but they are very solid. Belgium have [Eden] Hazard and [Kevin] De Bruyne. France have [Antoine] Griezmann and [Kylian] Mbappe.”