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What's the story?
Reports have emerged which reveal that Real Madrid were close to sealing a £30 million move for David Silva back in 2010. The Los Blancos then scrapped the deal after concerns arose about the Spaniard's 'drinking' and 'partying' lifestyle.
In case you didn't know...
A product of Spanish club Valencia CF's football academy, Silva impressed for the La Liga club in the 2009-10 season, where his tally of 8 goals and 7 assists helped his team secure the third position and make a return to the Champions League. This was the time he caught the attention of Real Madrid and other top European clubs.
While a move to Real Madrid failed to materialize, Silva joined English club Manchester City who were on course to a total revamp under their new owner Sheikh Mansour.
Since then, Silva has been one of City's most decorated players. He recently played his 400th game for the club in City's win last weekend over AFC Bournemouth. The 33-year-old playmaker has an astonishing tally of 71 goals and 132 assists for the current Premier League Champions.
The heart of the matter
In his recent article for The Athletic, Manchester-based journalist Sam Lee wrote about how Silva was misjudged by Pep Guardiola during his period as the coach of FC Barcelona, but it was Real Madrid who were at a bigger loss than the then-Barca head coach.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez apparently was so fond of Silva that he even ordered a Madrid delegate to “Take the suitcase to the locker room, because next year David will be with us.” The then 24-year-old midfielder's photos with Perez's nephews even flared up rumours at that time.
But, fate had other plans. A character study by the Real Madrid technical team revealed that Silva had 'drinking' and 'partying' issues which did not go well with the 'required dignity' to be a star at the Bernabeu. The move broke down since this incident.
Meanwhile, Manchester City took their opportunity to pinch Silva from Valencia as their apparent overhaul of the club and their squad continued. Silva has been pivotal in City winning their three Premier League titles in the last 9 years.
What's ahead?
David Silva has confirmed that this will be his last season with Manchester City and there is no doubt that he will be leaving England as one of the Premier League's and Manchester City's greatest midfielders of all time.
