The majestic Spaniard has been away for a decade but his countryman can finally see him pull the strings in the flesh.
Legend
After 436 appearances for Manchester City, 77 goals and 140 assists, David Silva has concluded his British adventure and has signed for Real Sociedad on a two-year deal.
La Liga will now bare witness to his majesty, while Alexander Isak, Mikel Oyarzabal and Adnan Januzaj will feel the benefit of having the puppet master behind them in midfield. 20-year-old Isak scored nine league goals in 2019/2020, Oyarzabal 10 and Januzaj four, but you can’t help but feel the presence of such a glorious footballer will increase their odds of improving those numbers.
Durable
Despite his age, the 34-year-old remains fairly durable. This season he played nearly 2,000 minutes for Pep Guardiola, scored six goals and assisted 10 and still had time to make eight appearances across the Carabao Cup and FA Cup - as well as four in the Champions League.
The only slight blot on Silva’s record was Guardiola’s lack of trust in the elder statesman during the more intense European games. During both Real Madrid legs and the loss against Lyon the Spaniard played just 15 minutes and didn’t even make the field for the Madrid first leg.
Win
Sociedad won’t mind about that. They’ll be delighted to have stolen a star from under Lazio’s noses and will surely use him to replace Martin Odegaard, who has returned to Madrid following the conclusion of his loan.
For Silva, he gets another two seasons at the highest level of the game and the chance to mentor a new generation of Basque starlets and it represents his return to his homeland - a pretty sweet aspect to the twighlight years of a great career.