Manchester City icon breaks silence on Barcelona and Real Madrid interest during 10-year England spell | OneFootball

Manchester City icon David Silva has revealed a flaw in Pep Guardiola’s managerial philosophy and reflected on interest from Spain’s elite during his time in England.

The former Spain international played 436 times for Manchester City, scoring 77 goals and providing 141 assists, building his reputation as one of the greatest-ever imports into the English top-flight.

The 39-year-old secured 288 wins with the eight-time Premier League champions between 2010-20 and was one of the first players to be lauded as a result of Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of the club in 2008 under the Abu Dhabi United Group. 

Silva won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and three Community Shields at Manchester City and was coached by Guardiola for 175 games – often being used as a central attacking midfielder in his system.

Although his praise may only paint a small picture as to how important Guardiola’s managerial knowledge is to the former City player, who has a statue outside the Etihad Stadium, he admitted that there is one flaw in his game. 

“Working with him (Guardiola) was on another level because he already knew everything the other team was going to do,” Silva said in conversation with Mario Suarez on the El Camino de Mario podcast, with comments translated by Sport Witness. 

“He (Guardiola) had everything prepared and things just worked out for you in the match. It’s another level. The worse thing about him is that he’s very particular – he doesn’t give you much freedom. But in other aspects, he is a genius.”

Before his £24 million move to England from La Liga side Valencia, Silva was one of the most sought-after midfielders in the world after shining on Spain’s biggest stage in the early parts of his career, going on to win 14 major trophies over the course of a decorated 10-year spell at the Etihad Stadium.

Real Madrid and Barcelona were both interested in the Spaniard prior to him moving to England, though the former continued to develop their interest in Silva as he continued to shine in the Premier League. 

One of the greatest players in City’s history, Silva admitted that he would have loved to join Barcelona but was ultimately grateful that he enjoyed ‘ten spectacular years’ in Manchester.

“I don’t know if the interest was genuine,” Silva said. “Barcelona wanted me but Valencia wasn’t selling anyone at that time, then they had financial problems and sold (David) Villa and me. Would I have liked to play for Barca? Who wouldn’t?”

After 10 successful years at City, Silva returned to Spain to play for Real Sociedad in 2020 before an ACL forced him into retirement in 2023. The former attacking midfielder has since begun producing his own wine.