Phil Foden has shared how much he admired former Manchester City midfielder David Silva.
After spending 10 years at the Manchester club, Silva left in 2020 to join Real Sociedad before being forced to retire last year at the age of 37 due to a serious knee injury.
Having seen the mercurial midfielder spend such a significant period of time at the Etihad Stadium, one current City star has shared his thoughts on his former teammate and how much of an impact he’s had on him.
Foden says Silva was his idol
Speaking in a recent interview with Joe Cole shared on TNT Sports’ YouTube channel, Foden had this to say about Silva and what he took from the Spaniard in terms of how he developed his game.
He said: “Definitely one of my favourite players growing up. Obviously, watching him in the academy and luckily got to play with him as well a little bit so it was a dream come true.
“I definitely took the back-foot receiving in tight areas off him and obviously, I had a little bit of flair to my game as well so I think I’m a different type of player a little bit but definitely took some advice off him.”
City signed the World Cup winner back in 2010 from Valencia in a deal worth £24m.
The midfielder then went on to make 436 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, scoring 77 goals, delivering 140 assists and winning numerous trophies including four Premier League titles.
At the end of his tenure at the Manchester club, the Spaniard was honoured with a statue outside the Etihad Stadium in recognition of his impressive efforts for the Citizens.
During their time together at City, Foden and Silva featured in 28 games together across the 2017/18 and 2019/20 seasons.
Even though the Englishman only started to be integrated into City’s first team towards the end of Silva’s time at the club, the fact that the 23-year-old was so enamoured with the veteran shows how much of an impact he had on him, which further highlights how much of a top signing Silva was for the Blues.
