David Silva is a Spanish professional football player, who presently plays for the Spain national football team and for Manchester City F.C. Primarily a left-footed player, Silva mostly plays as a center midfielder or as an attacking midfielder. He is, however, also skilled at playing as the second striker or winger. He began his football career with the youth team of UD San Fernando, and at age 14, he joined the youth wing of Valencia CF. He made his professional debut with the Spanish football club Sociedad Deportiva Eibar in the 2004-2005 season, when he was loaned by Valencia. Following a six-year tenure with Valencia that included a Copa del Rey win in 2008, he joined Manchester City. His wins include the FA Cup, two Premier League titles, and three League Cups. Considered among the best midfielders by many, Silva has garnered epithets such as El Mago" and "Merlin" for his superb ball-retaining and passing skills. He is the fourth-highest goal-scorer in the history of Spain, with 35 goals, and has also accumulated 100 caps. He was part of the squads that earned three successive international tournaments wins, namely, the UEFA Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Euro 2012.
He was born on January 8, 1986, in ArguineguÃn, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, to Fernando Jiménez and Eva Silva. His father, a municipal police officer of Spanish descent, was responsible for the safety of the Valencia CF stadium. According to the Canarian media, his mother is of Japanese descent.
He began his football career with the youth team of UD San Fernando. Initially, he started as a goalkeeper and then turned into a winger.
He became a youth player with Valencia CF at the age of 14 and remained part of the youth set-up of the Spanish football club till he was 17 years old.
His first representation for Spain saw him netting 3 goals during the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championship held in Finland.
His made his professional debut in the 2004-2005 season, with Sociedad Deportiva Eibar, after being loaned by Valencia. He was loaned out to the Spanish professional football club Celta de Vigo the next season. He netted 4 goals at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.
The summer of 2006 marked his return to Valencia. On November 5, 2006, he scored his first league goal. He was named as part of the Spanish national Under-21 football team in 2006, while he made his senior international debut on November 15 that year.
Silva was included in the squad of 23 for the UEFA Euro 2008.
While many Premier League teams showed interest in Silva, he went for a five-year contract extension with Valencia in August 2008. He won one Copa del Rey in 2008, his first title in Spain, as Valencia garnered a 3-1 victory over Getafe, earning the trophy for the seventh time in the clubs history.
He made his career-best score of eight goals during the 2009-2010 La Liga season.
'Manchester City signed a four-year deal with Silva on July 14, 2010. He was initially deployed by its manager, Roberto Mancini, as a winger. Later in his first season, Silva was given the role of a trequartista.
David made his Premier League debut on August 14, 2010, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. A match against Red Bull Salzburg, held on September 16 that year, marked his first goal for Manchester City. His first league goal was against Blackpool on October 17 that year.
His impressive performance earned him three Manchester City Player of the Month awards in a row, from October to December 2010. Overall, he made 15 assists in his first season and became one of the finest players of the league.
He continued his impressive performance in the next season too. In the 2011-2012 Premier League, he was named the Man of the Match in two matches, against Swansea City and the Bolton Wanderers respectively. His remarkable display on the field earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award on October 1, 2011.
He netted the fifth goal for Manchester City against Manchester United in the seasons first Manchester Derby, held at Old Trafford on October 23, 2011, when the former ended up with a 6-1 win. The game witnessed Silvas excellent passing skills, when he assisted his teammates in making two goals, apart from setting up the second goal for Edin Džeko.
He finished the season with 15 assists to his credit, the maximum delivered by any player in that season, and won his first Premier League medal with Manchester City. He was also included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, along with three other Manchester City players.
The UEFA Euro 2012 finals held at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, on July 1, 2012, witnessed Spain winning the UEFA Euro 2012 title, with a 4-0 win over Italy. The matchs first goal was scored by Silva. He displayed impeccable efficiency in the tournament, with two goals and three assists. His performances led him to be named in the UEFA Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament.
He signed a fresh five-year deal with Manchester City on September 17, 2012.
The 23-man squad list of Spain, chalked out by Vicente del Bosque, for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, included Silva.
He became Manchester City's Player of the Month for March 2014. On August 12, the same year, he signed a five-year contract extension with the club.
In February 2015, he won the Etihad Player of the Month award. He netted a goal against Leicester City on March 4, 2015, thus leading Manchester City to a 1-0 win. With this, he achieved the feat of scoring ten league goals in a season for the first time in his career.
In August 2015, he won the Manchester City Player of the Month award and earned a nomination for the Premier League Player of the Month. The club, for the first time, topped their group, when they defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 on December 8 that year, in the last group-stage match of the UEFA Champions League. The first goal of the match was scored by Silva.
He won his second League Cup with Manchester City, when the club won 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in the 2016 Football League Cup finals held at the Wembley Stadium, London, on February 28, 2016.
He won his first Etihad Player of the Season award in 2016-2017, when he played in 44 games and scored 8 goals, apart from providing several assists.
As the 2017-2018 season began, Silva provided 8 Premier League assists, appearing in 14 matches. With this, he achieved the feat of garnering the highest total by a player in the top five leagues of Europe. Manchester City signed a one-year contract extension with Silva on November 30, 2017, thus deciding to retain him till 2020.
He published a note on January 3, 2018, stating that he was not a part of Manchester City since December 2017, as he needed time away from the game, due to an extremely premature birth of his son, Mateo, who was struggling to stay alive.
