AGUERO SALUTES SPANISH GENIUS AS THE SELFLESS CATALYST IN GLORIOUS REVIVAL
AT SOME stage in the coming weeks, David Silva will walk from the Etihad field for the final time in a Manchester City shirt accompanied by nothing more than the echoing applause from team-mates.
In normal circumstances, there would be a handshake or two from gracious opposition and a hug from Pep Guardiola. But these are not normal times.
Silva, of course, could yet bring down the curtain on his City career as a Champions League winner, the one trophy that has eluded the Spaniard and his club. But if his send-off is to be a behind-closeddoors fixture at home to Norwich, it is hard to imagine a lower-key celebration for a player who is one of the finest imports in Premier League history.
Sergio Aguero credits Silva with being the spark who ignited Manchester City from serial underachievers to serial winners. The club’s record-breaking striker pays tribute to Silva in a new book, El Mago, to be released this week. And in it he insisted there was a “before and after” for City, with the capture of the midfield wizard in 2010 being the turning point. “When someone can break past club lines and achieve recognition from supporters of other teams at a global level, that’s when a legend is born and that is what you are David,” writes Aguero. “There has been a before and an after for Manchester City since you were here. For that you have my endless gratitude.
“You’ve made us all bigger with your talent. I’ve learnt a lot from you, we all do, every single day. You have made assisting your biggest virtue – your drive to share and to bring the best out of others. You are going to be missed.”
This campaign will be the 34-year-old’s last with Manchester City, 10 years after signing for £24million fromValencia.
He won four Premier League titles, five League Cups and two FA Cups.
And it was the first FA Cup in 2011 which Silva says was the turning point, ending a 35-year wait for a trophy for long-suffering fans. The Spaniard’s contributions as playmaker that season also helped City finish third in the Premier League, bringing Champions League football to the Etihad – the first time in 42 years the club had reached the top table in Europe.
Nothing could be more fitting than Silva capping it with a first
Champions League triumph. His relationship with Aguero will be key and it would also be fitting if he could provide for the striker four more times in the league, given only Frank Lampard and striker Didier Drogba, with 24 goals, have a better assist-goalscorer relationship than the City pair on 21.
“We’ll enjoy every minute and miss him dearly when he’s gone,” said Aguero, who signed a year after Silva and has scored 254 goals for the club.
City have one foot in the last eight of the Champions League after their first-leg win over Real Madrid and the desire to cap both men’s careers with the trophy is burning bright, but Aguero says if Silva’s example shows anything, it is that the team is bigger than any individual.
He said: “When anyone wants to learn what it means to put the team over the self, that’s where David will be too.That’s your true magic.”
●David Silva: El Mago – A Decade Of Magic, an official Manchester City book, is on sale June 4 from shop.mancity.com or Amazon.