David Villa played with and against a significant number of top players during his career.
Having played for the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at club level where he shared the pitch with the likes of Lionel Messi, as well as racking up 98 senior appearances for Spain playing alongside Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, the former attacker knows a top player when he sees one.
With Spain being one of the nations looking to win the 2024 European Championship, the 42-year-old has been sharing his thoughts on some of the best Spanish players he’s ever played alongside, with one former Manchester City star getting a special mention.
David Villa says David Silva was a ‘magician’
Appearing in a recent video shared on the BBC Sport TikTok channel, Villa was asked to build his ideal Spanish player by selecting players based on certain attributes such as left foot, right foot, heading ability, intelligence, pace, tackling, strength and finishing.
For the left foot attribute, Villa picked David Silva and said this about the former City star.
He said: “I will choose Silva because he’s the magician.”
Silva was a magical player for City
Having played with Villa at Valencia and in the Spain national team, the duo featured in 185 games together, racking up 24 joint goal participations in the process.
During his time at the Etihad Stadium between 2010 and 2020, Silva made 436 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions, scoring 77 goals, delivering 130 assists and winning four Premier League trophies along the way.
Speaking to Sky Sports back in 2019, Guardiola described the former midfielder, who Jermaine Jenas recently picked as being better than Kevin De Bruyne, as “one of the most technically gifted and intelligent players to move and work in a small space.”
Recognised as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has ever seen, it shouldn’t surprise many City fans that Villa picked Silva for the left foot option when building his ideal Spanish player, even despite some of the legendary left-footed players he shared the pitch with throughout his career.
