LOS BLANKED! Why Silva snubbed Real Madrid to opt for life in the City...
SPANISH GIANTS HAD CHASED MAESTRO SINCE HE WAS 12
REAL Madrid missed the chance to snap up David Silva as a 12-year-old – and he ignored repeated pleas from the Bernabeu giants.
And a new documentary reveals that he snubbed both Real and Barcelona and opted to move to City because he valued his privacy.
Silva is nearing the end of his 10-year Blues career, and is believed by many to be the greatest player in the club’s history. But the new hour-long film ‘Made in Gran Canaria’ details exactly why he took the shock decision to leave Valencia and risk his career in the cold, unforgiving surroundings of English football.
Silva was 24 when he joined City for £24m in 2010, fresh from winning Euro 2008 and the World Cup with Spain.
It was clear he was a superstar in the making, and every top club on the planet was interested.
But Real blew it when Silva was 12 and had visited the mainland as part of a representative Canary Islands team, and wowed everyone who saw him play.
Vicente Del Bosque – who would later coach Silva as part of the successful Spain team – was in charge at the Bernabeu and told Silva’s dad Fernando Jimenez: “The kid has ability, potential. He has vision.”
But Jimenez made it plain his son was too young to leave home, replying: “I’ve not brought him here to stay. If you think he’s a player you might be interested in, he can go back to his town and you can monitor him.”
It was agreed he would go back the following year, but Silva reveals: “After that I didn’t go again. They’d call me year after year, but I didn’t go. The following year I went back to my town where I played until I was 14.”
He finally left home to join Valencia, where he made his name and forced his way into a hugely talented Spain team.
His displays for the national team and in La Liga had everyone on full alert, but City physio Edu Alvarez, who knows the player well, said the lifestyle in England, and the challenge of adapting to the rigours of the Premier League, appealed. Said Alvarez: “I think he wanted a new adventure, something different. The footballer’s lifestyle in England is more private than in Spain.
“In clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, the media and fans can be really intrusive. So what’s the point? “Footballers in England are more respected, people are only interested in what they do on the pitch.” Guardiola was also an admirer in his days at Barcelona, but he did not end up at the Nou Camp because it was felt he did not score enough goals. The City boss said: “When I was at Barcelona I’d say, ‘How good is this guy? I’d love to have him here.’
When I was at Barcelona I’d say ‘How good is this guy? I’d love to have him here’
Pep Guardiola on David Silva
“And at the end of his career we’ve been together and it’s been really good.”
He was also surprised, and fascinated by the fact that Silva had chosen to go to City and risk his reputation in the mad world of English football.
But the manager said there is a steel to Silva which is not evident when you first meet him.
“You’ve always got these stereotypes – ‘He’s Canarian, used to the sun, good weather,’ and he’s coming somewhere so cold. But stereotypes aren’t good advisors,” said Guardiola.
“In my first year at City I’d talk to him about it, how surprised I was that he came here, a league so physical, so tough, so imposing, with this climate, with this style of football. How he was able to survive or adapt and do it so well.”
And Guardiola recalled the words of Jose Luis Mendilibar, who had Silva in his charge when the player was on loan at Eibar in the second division.
Eibar were a strong, physical side, and many felt then that a technically excellent player like Silva would not fit in, but the coach soon realised he had an edge which made him a winner in any environment.
He described him as ‘a bit of a b ****** ,’ which Guardiola agreed with: “That definition, that he’s a bit of a ‘b ****** ,’ is the perfect definition by Mendilibar.
“You can tell he learnt his football on the street, like he’s threatening ‘There’ll only be one winner here.’
“David has that in him and you don’t realise it until you get to know him.”