Manchester City great David Silva has revealed he could have joined Barcelona in 2008 but insisted his eventual move to the Etihad Stadium was the best decision he ever made.
Of all the players who defined Manchester City’s rise in the 2010s, few are loved quite like David Silva.
The Spaniard spent a decade at the Etihad Stadium, won four Premier League titles and left as ‘El Mago’, the magician whose statue now stands outside the ground alongside those of Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero.
Now, reflecting on a career that has recently seen a shock resurrection, Silva has revealed that his story could have taken a very different path. Long before he arrived in Manchester, Barcelona came calling - but he insists that joining City proved the finest decision he ever made.
The call from Txiki in 2008
Speaking on the El Camino de Mario podcast, in comments relayed by Tutto Mercato Web, the playmaker explained how close he came to a move to Catalonia.
“In 2008, Txiki [Begiristain] called me, when we won the European Championship with the national team,” Silva said. “Back then he was at Barça. But Valencia wasn’t selling.”
Begiristain, then the sporting director of Barcelona, would ironically go on to spend more than a decade as Manchester City’s director of football. Joining in 2012, he was instrumental in building the very side Silva would so often star in.
In 2008, though, a cash-strapped Valencia held their ground and the move never materialised. Financial trouble did eventually force the Spanish club to cash in on both Silva and striker David Villa.
‘The best decision was going to City’
When he finally did say goodbye to Valencia, it was Manchester City rather than either Spanish giant that won the race. Real Madrid had long been linked, but Silva’s mind was made up - thanks in part to the persistence of another long-time admirer, Roberto Mancini.
“The best decision was going to City,” Silva said. “I spent 10 spectacular years there.”
It should not be forgotten that the Manchester City of 2010 was not yet the dominant force it would become.
In that time the club was a project rather than a titan of the game; Silva became one of the figureheads who changed that, winning 125 caps for Spain along the way and earning adoration from supporters in a way only a handful of players could.
A decision that shaped a club
These memories arrive as Silva, now 40, begins a surprising new chapter. Having retired in 2023 after three years with Real Sociedad, he has come out of retirement to sign a short-term deal with Hong Kong top-flight club Supreme Sha Tin. “I’m very happy to be joining Supreme Sha Tin for this experience,” he said on Instagram confirming the move.
Six years on from his departure, Silva is no less fondly remembered at the Etihad. The towering statue unveiled the following summer serves as a permanent reminder of what he gave to the club.
It is no exaggeration to say that his choice to head to Manchester, at a time when Barcelona and Real Madrid represented the summit of the European game, proved to be one of the pivotal moments of the post-takeover era.
It is hard to imagine a world in which El Mago pulled on the stripes of Barcelona rather than sky blue. Luckily for the blue half of Manchester, Silva made his choice and left a legacy few in the club’s history can match.