Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes David Silva can still improve at, but says the 31-year-old is on par with compatriots Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Silva joined the Citizens back in 2010 from Valencia and has proven to be one of the Premier League’s finest ever imports.
The assist-king registered his 300th appearance for the club in Saturday’s win over Hull City and it has certainly been an eventful seven years for him in the North West.
Guardiola has had the pleasure of working with some of the finest midfielders during his spells with Barcelona and Bayern Munich – most notably Spanish stars Xavi and Iniesta – but he insists Silva is right up there with the best in the business.
“Always I said he had to score goals because if Silva scores goals he would have been… you cannot imagine because he has absolutely everything: the mentality, a competitor, everything,” Guardiola said, as reported by Sky Sports.
“I remember when I was in Barcelona. The first or second year I was there, Unai Emery, who is now the PSG trainer, was there [at Valencia].
“After the game we spoke about that and he told me, ‘David Silva is the player for you, for Barcelona. Believe me, that is a player for Barcelona by far’. And he was so right, he’s a special player.
“He has something more special than awards. Awards are to put in the wardrobe. The opinion we will have in the future about his career will not be about how many individual prizes he has won. It will be about the opinion of his team-mates and his managers.
“Always I say to him, ‘You have to score goals!’ Because if Silva scored goals he would have been something you cannot even imagine. He has absolutely everything with mentality, he’s a competitor and everything.
“Hopefully we can help him to be a better player still. I would like to feel that it is not enough what he has done and he can believe he can do better for his own career but big congratulations because what he has achieved here in England with his own quality is not easy. That’s why he has to be so, so happy with that.”
Silva has only scored two league goals this season, but it is his creativity which has proven to be his forte – he has
registered six top-flight assists.
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