David Silva

Valencia

A product of Valencia's youth system, Silva made his professional debut in 2004–05, with Segunda División's Eibar, while on loan from Valencia, playing 35 league games and scoring on five occasions. In the following season, he was again out on loan, this time to Celta de Vigo, where he played 34 matches, scoring four goals. After two late substitute appearances, the first in a 2–0 home win over Málaga on 28 August 2005, Silva finished as an undisputed starter as the Galician side reached the UEFA Cup straight from the second-tier.

Silva returned to Valencia in the summer of 2006, becoming an automatic first-choice despite his young age of 20. In two seasons combined, he only missed six matches and netted 14 goals, his first league goal coming on 5 November 2006 in a 1–1 draw at Espanyol. In August 2008, he extended his contract by five years, amidst interest of several Premier League teams. He won the Copa del Rey 2008, his first title in Spain. After not appearing in the first three months of 2008–09 due to a chronic ankle ailment, Silva returned to the call-ups in mid-December. On 3 January 2009, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over Atlético Madrid, still contributing with 19 matches (four goals) as the Che qualified for the Europa League. In the 2009–10 season, Silva scored a career-best eight goals, as Valencia finished in third position and returned to the UEFA Champions League. On 15 April 2010, he scored a brace against Athletic Bilbao for a 2–0…

Silva first represented Spain in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, scoring three goals. In 2006, he became an under-21 international and scored four goals during the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship; this was enough to earn him joint-fourth place in the goal ranking, alongside Italian striker Graziano Pellè. Silva made his senior international debut in the 1–0 friendly home defeat to Romania on 15 November 2006, and continued to receive call-ups to the side after good contributions in his first games. On 22 August 2007, he scored his first two goals for Spain, netting twice in a 3–2 friendly win versus Greece, and was then called up to the squad of 23 for UEFA Euro 2008.

UEFA Euro 2008

Silva started five of Spain's six matches at Euro 2008. In Spain's second group stage match against Sweden in Innsbruck, he assisted Fernando Torres with a pinpoint cross from the edge of the box, with the former Liverpool forward scoring the opener in an eventual 2–1 win. In the semi-finals game versus Russia, Silva scored the third goal for Spain after a quick counter-attack in which Cesc Fàbregas delivered a low cross, and he sent the ball into Igor Akinfeev's goal with his left foot. In the final, he was involved in an incident with Germany's Lukas Podolski. After he pulled Podolski to the ground, the German approached Silva, which resulted in an angry exchange of words and a coming together of heads that the referee decided not to punish. Shortly afterward,…

Silva was known as an agile left-footed player by the media, while also being cited for having an excellent first touch, good dribbling skills, and his technical ability, which, along with his movements, allowed him to retain possession in tight spaces, and to create space for him and teammates when attacking. Although he primarily served as a playmaker for his team, Silva was capable of scoring goals himself as well as creating them, which enabled him to be deployed in several offensive roles: he was usually fielded in a free role as an attacking midfielder, where he was given space to roam the pitch, but was also used as a winger, as a false 9, as a second striker or as a deeper-lying central midfielder. Silva's composure on the ball, as well as his vision, passing accuracy, ability to read the game, pick a pass, and control the tempo of his team's play, saw him become one of the best players in the world in his position, as well as one of the best midfielders in Premier League history, and earned him the nicknames Merlin (reference to the legendary wizard Merlin) and El Mago. He is also considered one of the best midfielders of his generation and arguably Manchester City's greatest ever player. According to a writer for Ultimo Uomo, "Perhaps the way we will remember Silva is precisely for his technical versatility—his ability to make the right move at the right moment, stemming from his total mastery of time and space on the pitch." Undici, an Italian publication, wrote,…

David Silva was born in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, to Fernando Jiménez, a former municipal police officer who eventually was responsible for the safety of the Valencia CF stadium and Eva Silva. His father, Fernando, is Spanish (Canarian) while his mother, Eva, is of Japanese heritage, claimed by the Canarian media. David Silva began playing football in the youth team of UD San Fernando, near Maspalomas. Originally, he played as a goalkeeper, before becoming a winger and mirrored his game around his footballing idol as a youth, Michael Laudrup. When he was 14, he received an offer to become a youth player at Valencia CF, which he accepted. He stayed in Valencia's youth set-up until he was 17.