David Silva to leave Manchester City in 2020
David Silva will leave Manchester City at the end of next season after a decade with the Premier League champions.
The 33-year-old Spaniard is an icon of City’s dominant era under Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, helping them to four league titles.
The Spanish World Cup winner is a symbol of City’s transformation from perennial strugglers to title contenders and a European force.
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But the diminutive playmaker - currently with 395 appearances to his name - will bring down the curtain on his time in Manchester next season.
Silva said: "No, this is the last one (season). Ten years for me is enough. It's the perfect time for me.
"Initially, City were talking about two years, but I decided to sign [for] another one, so I finished at 10 years.
"It completes the cycle. It's a nice round figure. I can never see myself playing against City for another team. So 10 years - that's it."
Signed in the summer of 2010 by Roberto Mancini for £25million, two-time European Championship winner Silva arrived in England with a reputation as a forward-thinking midfielder.
City, then with the likes of Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez on the books, were in the process of transforming into an elite side.
But it could be argued Silva’s arrival in Manchester acted as the catalyst for the change which also saw them lift two FA Cups and four League Cups.
Included in the Premier League team of the season twice, Silva’s impact on a modern-day City cannot be underestimated.
His ability to glide beyond opposition players and place an inch-perfect through-ball made him perfect for the attacking force the City hierarchy envisaged they would become.
Silva has scored 54 goals in 282 Premier League appearances.
He made 50 appearances in all competitions last season, though City started considering a succession plan by signing his namesake from Monaco - Bernardo.
And after his 34th birthday - as he approaches the twilight of his career - he will leave the club and go down as one of their greatest ever players.
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