The Spanish pass master, who has scored or assisted 130 goals in 262 Premier League games since arriving from Valencia in 2010, sat out eight City matches around the turn of the year with “personal reasons” the only official explanation.
It later transpired that Silva’s partner Yessica had given birth to son Mateo three months early, and the newborn was fighting for his life in intensive care back in Valencia.
Thankfully, the youngster is now a bouncing baby boy approaching his first birthday, but Silva explains how tough the opening six months of his life were.
Speaking exclusively in the January 2019 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, out now, the 32-year-old says: “They were the hardest few months of my life. Every time I went back home, I’d spend the entire time in hospital with Yessica and Mateo. The journeys were so long and you never rest because you’re thinking about your son and partner the whole time. I wasn’t eating properly and I’d only train for one day a week.
“I owe Pep Guardiola, my team-mates and the club so much. Everyone has been so supportive. My head wasn’t in Manchester and Pep recognised it was better for the team, and my own well-being, if I was with my family. I had to be close to them. If it hadn’t happened this way, there’s no way I’d have been able to deal with everything. All of the coming and going to and from Valencia would have been too much.”
Star of the show
After Mateo was released from hospital in May, plans were promptly put in place to introduce City’s newest member to the fans.
And, having proudly paraded his son on the pitch before August’s game against Huddersfield, Silva scored in a 6-1 thrashing.
“He was the star that day, of course,” beams Silva Sr. “When he’s older, I’ll never stop telling him about that day. More than winning the Premier League, more than anything. It all becomes secondary to the health of your family and your son.”
Stay in Silva’s suite at the Anfi Del Mar, Gran Canaria from €690 per person, per week. For enquiries, offers and more, visit www.anfi.com
Read the full interview with David Silva in the January 2019 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. The 2018 awards special features interviews with Goal of the Year winner Gareth Bale and English Player of the Year Lucy Bronze, plus a chat with Ivan Perisic about Croatia’s World Cup heroics. We go One-on-One with Michael Carrick, and hail Gareth Southgate, Virgil van Dijk and Comeback of the Year winner Hardlife Zvirekwi, who returned to action despite losing a hand.
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