Man City Square
Fansided

David Silva retires from international football

By James Fudge

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JULY 01: Roman Zobnin of Russia tackles David Silva of Spain during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Spain and Russia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 1, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JULY 01: Roman Zobnin of Russia tackles David Silva of Spain during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Spain and Russia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 1, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

David Silva has confirmed that he has retired from international football and will now concentrate on his club form for Manchester City.

The 32-year old follows Anders Iniesta and Gerard Pique in quitting the national side after this summers’ World Cup. The player from Gran Canary island and full name David Josué Jiménez Silva made his debut when he was 20 years old against Romania.

He has since made over 125 appearances for his nation and won the World Cup and two European Championships during his tenure.

In that time, he has been an important player for Spain during their most successful period, scoring 35 goals, making him the fourth highest goal scorer. Out and out forwards, David Villa, Raul and Fernando Torres, are the only players ahead of him.

In his statement released through his media channels, the midfielder states it has not been an ‘easy decision and has taken him ‘weeks of reflection and analysis to come to the decision.’

"‘It is not easy, after everything I have experienced, to sit down and write this letter. There have been days and weeks of reflection and analysis to make the decision to finish my time in the Spain national team. Without a doubt, it is one of the hardest decisions in my career.’ – David Silva"

Spain will need not worry too much as they have a number of promising youngsters coming through the ranks to stake a first-team place. Thiago Alcantara and Isco will likely be the favourites to replace him in Luis Henrique’s starting XI, however, Marco Asensio, Saul Niguez, Carlos Soler or Dani Ceballos are also primed to take his place.

dark. Next. Three things learned from the Arsenal win

It may be a chance for a City player to replace him in the not so distant future with Brahim Diaz and Aleix Garcia not too far away from the national squad and currently with the under-21 squad.

Silva now has two years left to run on his contract and will likely to focus all his efforts into sustaining his high-quality performances. He has stated that he will be returning home at the end of 2019/20 season to play back in Spain.

Home/Man City News