Manchester City can proudly say that they have had players on their books who can be regarded as some of the best in the history of the game.
One of them is Kevin De Bruyne, considered an all-time great by fans and pundits around the world and a truly legendary midfielder.
Others include Yaya Toure, who left Vincent Kompany floored by how well-rounded he was as a player and has gone down in the history books as a legend of the game as well.
David Silva is another City icon who will eternally be remembered for his outstanding career for both club and country.
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Paul Scholes says David Silva is Spain’s greatest player of all time
De Bruyne named Silva as Manchester City’s greatest player, which highlights how special a footballer he was.
Andres Iniesta adores David Silva as the four-time Premier League winner is one of his favourite players of all time.
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However, Paul Scholes has gone as far as to claim on TNT Sports that the retired midfielder is Spain’s greatest-ever player.
PAUL SCHOLES PICKS EACH COUNTRY’S GREATEST PLAYER
COUNTRY COUNTRY
SPAIN DAVID SILVA
PORTUGAL CRISTIANO RONALDO
GERMANY TONI KROOS
BRAZIL PELE
ARGENTINA LIONEL MESSI
FRANCE ZINEDINE ZIDANE
ENGLAND SIR BOBBY CHARLTON
In essence, Scholes believes David Silva was a superior player to both Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, who are considered by many as the best Spanish players to ever grace the game.
David Silva’s stats compared to Xavi and Andres Iniesta
Pep Guardiola admired David Silva as well and whether he agrees with Paul Scholes about him being Spain’s finest player till date would be interesting to discover.
Based on the stats, here’s how Silva compares to both Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
STATS DAVID SILVA ANDRES INIESTA XAVI HERNANDEZ
APPEARANCES 904 962 1005
GOALS 159 88 121
ASSISTS 231 188 238
Solely based on the numbers, it’s safe to say that it is difficult to decide which out of the three greats was the best.
Xavi Hernandez had the most assists (238) and appearances (1005) throughout his career while David Silva stands out as a goalscorer (159), but with Andres Iniesta being the genius he was, it would take a brave man to count out any of the three maestros in any footballing debate.