After 10 trophy-laden years in charge of Manchester City, legendary manager Pep Guardiola has announced he is leaving at the end of the 2025/26 season. In that decade, he's won everything on offer, including the league on six occasions, the Champions League, and numerous League and FA Cups.
It all started for him back in 2016, as the Cityzens hosted Sunderland at the Etihad. It was a rather tight game, as Sergio Aguero found the back of the net after just four minutes, but City failed to kick on from there.
Jermaine Defoe then managed to level the scores at 1-1 with 71 minutes played. Just as the Black Cats looked set to ruin Guardiola's Premier League bow, Paddy McNair scored a late own-goal, handing the Catalan a 2-1 win in his first game as Man City boss.
In the decade since, a lot has changed. But for one of the starters on that day, his life looks very different.
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Starting in the middle of the park that day was one David Silva. He just so happened to be one of Man City's greatest footballers of all time. Indeed, the Spaniard won four Premier League titles, including two under Guardiola, while he also lifted the FA Cup twice and the League Cup five times.
The Spaniard proved to be among the finest midfielders to ever grace the English top-flight and reached new heights with his countryman calling the shots from the Etihad touchline.
When Silva left City in 2020, Guardiola praised him in the highest terms, suggesting he is one of the most vital players in the club's modern history. He said:
“Extraordinary. The amount of games, the huge quality in the games he played, the titles he helped win...he’s alongside five or six others who made this club what it is now. And this club will always be grateful.”
Silva returned to Spain, joining Real Sociedad, where he played for three more seasons until hanging up his boots in 2023.
Since retiring, Silva has shown he has a keen interest in life away from football. Indeed, instead of aiming to become a manager like many of his past teammates, the Spaniard has become a businessman.
Indeed, the two-time European champion and a World Cup winner is now enjoying a lucrative career within the wine industry. As per reports in Spain, via The Sun, he's actually been a part of that world since 2010, but it's now taken off into something really successful.
Having now joined forces with winemaker Jonatan Garcia, the pair launched an exciting new winery called Bodega Tameran, which is in the Canary Islands. Following his entrepreneurial spirit, Silva bought a farm of almost one million square metres in the centre of his native Gran Canaria.
When asked if the Man City icon even likes the drink, Garcia told the Sourcing Table:
“Yes, he’s a freak. He is obsessive. When he does something he wants to be the best. It is the same with football."
Silva has also spoken about his winemaking, noting: “Above all, they are wines that will tell you where they are from, you will know that they are from the Canary Islands”. He added: “I discovered this world a few years ago in the usual way: you start going with slightly older colleagues, you try it, you like it, you become fond of it, you get to know”.
His bottle of Baboso can cost up to £150 quid in a Michelin-starred restaurant in London. On top of that, his first two vintages exceeded 10,000 bottles in 2023. All varieties have been exported across the world.
Beyond wine, the businessman and former footballer has invested in real-estate. Silva owns an exclusive beach club in Amadores and a luxury resort of 88 homes in Arguineguín