Stuart Brennan
July 01, 2010
Manchester City fans can be sure that exciting new signing David Silva knows his onions – not to mention his potatoes and oranges!
The Spain star honed his skills as a four-year-old by dribbling any spherical fruit and veg around his grandma’s kitchen in the little Gran Canaria fishing village of Arguineguin.
The diminutive playmaker even had a spell as a manager at the age of eight years old – albeit short and tongue-in-cheek.
Silva is a hero in the Canary Isles, better known for its holiday resorts and volcanoes than its production of sporting talent.
And he is also big in Japan, as his mother Eva is of Japanese descent.
But Silva is all set to explode as a major star for City, following the agreement of a £25m deal with Valencia.
Blues boss Roberto Mancini is a dedicated student of the game, and as a young coach studying at the Italian national football centre at Coverciano, he wrote a discourse on “El Trequartista”, or attacking midfielder.
That is why he set his sights on Silva from the moment he surveyed the players at his disposal at Eastlands.
He recognised that, with Stevie Ireland playing well below his capability, City were short of a high-quality playmaker, someone who could pull the strings and serve up chances for Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Blessed with quick feet, pace, flair and a lightning football brain, Silva will also have the perfect midfield foil in Yaya Toure, who provides beef and power as well as good technical ability.
Silva also brings a quiet nature and settled family background, and claims to have been eyeing City’s progress for the last 18 months.
He was born in 1984 in the fishing village of Arguineguin, off the beaten tourist track in Gran Canaria, and was brought up in his paternal grandparents’ three-storey home, overlooking the harbour.
Silva youth
In a house full of siblings and cousins, Silva soon showed some prowess by kicking around the potatoes and oranges until his frustrated grandma made him a small ball out of old rags. Playing with his cousin Ranzel and neighbours in the alleyway at the side of the house, it soon became apparent he had a rare gift.
Ranzel, who still plays for the Arguineguin team, said: “David was good with the ball from being a boy.
“I am a year older than him and when he played with us, he was better than my whole team, who were all older than him.”
He was also a dedicated and determined little soul. Acting as a ballboy for the local semi-professional team, he had his arm broken by a wayward shot – but rather than give up the privilege, he turned up for the next game with his arm in plaster.
Dad Fernando Jimenez was manager of a local amateur outfit, and when he missed training would put eight-year-old David in charge of his adult side, to much amusement.
That mixture of skill and dedication attracted La Liga outfit Valencia, and they invited him to join their youth ranks as a 14-year-old.
Real Madrid had taken a look, but decided the Canarian was too small to ever be a footballer.
At first anxious about being away from home and his close-knit family and friends, Silva had many unhappy moments of doubt as he rang home every night.
But Ranzel urged him to stick at it and he was also driven on by his urge to be like his idol, the Danish ace Michael Laudrup who starred for both Barcelona and Real Madrid in the 80s and 90s.
Eventually his mum, dad and younger siblings Natalia and Nano moved to Valencia to be with him. Silva’s career, boosted by home cooking and family warmth, took off.
He was soon a regular – and regular goalscorer – in the Spain Under-17 side which he helped to reach European and world finals, and made his professional debut as an 18-year-old when loaned out to second division side Eibar.
He scored five goals in 35 games for them and the following season was handed a tougher loan spell at Celta Vigo, newly promoted and expected to struggle.
Silva helped to inspire them to an unlikely surge into a Uefa Cup placing, scoring four goals in 35 games from midfield. He also became a Spain Under-19 stalwart, helping them to the European title in 2004.
Valencia knew he was ready, and they hurled him into their league campaign in 2006-07.
His rise to fame and fortune was on a steep upward curve, as Valencia won the Spanish Cup in 2008 and that same summer he became the first Canarian to win a major European football trophy as Spain triumphed at Euro 2008.
Goals and glory followed, and every time the ball hits the back of the net, Silva makes a poignant tribute to his cousin Cyntia, who died at the age of three. He blows kisses to the heavens, and carries a photo of the little girl wherever he goes. Those tender kisses are now all set to become a feature for City next season.
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