Manchester City have been the dominant force in English football over the last decade or more, but Micah Richards insists the side let David Silva down during his time there.
Since the money started flowing through Manchester City, the club has gone from strength to strength. They have now won the Premier League title eight times and, given Liverpool’s dip in form, have a great chance of adding number nine in 2025/26.
Those past successes for City are largely down to the influx of top talent they were able to attract over the years. Very few of those signings had quite the impact that David Silva had, that’s for sure.
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With new rules on the way that could impact Man City and their ability to sign world superstars, now is a good time to reflect on what Silva achieved at the club, and why Micah Richards believes it could and should have been more.
David Silva during Manchester City v Norwich City - Premier League
Photo by Visionhaus
David Silva deserved more trophies at Man City
In the latest episode of The Rest Is Football, Richards commented on Silva’s time at The Etihad and suggested he and his teammates let the Spaniard down by never managing to win the Champions League.
He said: “I’m a little bit disappointed for him, though, that he didn’t arrive at Man City a little bit later, because he was the one who really started it. You had him and [Carlos] Tevez and then Sergio Aguero, who came a little bit later, but David Silva, he was the one who should have been playing with top players from the very start.
“I know he was at Valencia. But he was at a Barcelona or a Real Madrid level. And I thought at the time, sometimes we let the standard down. He never won a Champions League at Man City. He left before they’d won it.”
City, of course, won the Champions League in 2023. Silva left the club in 2020 to head back to Spain and Real Sociedad after a phenomenal ten-year spell at Man City.
Micah Richards during Manchester City FC v Real Madrid: Semi-Final First Leg - UEFA Champions League
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
David Silva had plenty of chances to win Champions League
During his decade at Man City, Silva won a lot of trophies. With four league titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, and two Community Shields to his name, it’s not like Silva left the club empty-handed. He also has his own statue at the stadium, so he’s not done too badly at all.
It’s also worth noting that Silva played in the Champions League for nine seasons with Man City. He certainly had ample opportunities to win the competition with the Citizens, and while some could argue the squad wasn’t quite strong enough, it was still good enough to win the other trophies.
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Still, Silva will always go down as one of the greatest players of the modern era for City. His influence is the kind of thing that the club have been chasing ever since, really, with players like Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Savinho all touted as potential successors to the Spaniard.
Now, it’s on those kinds of players to deliver another Champions League title. If they don’t, then it will surely go down as something of a failure, given the quality Pep Guardiola has at his disposal.