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Is David Silva a bargain for Manchester City at £24m?
When fans and pundits alike speculate as to who they would select as their signing of the season, it’s often the bargain buys that come to fore. Rafael van der Vaart was bought for a snip at £8m, Javier Hernandez at just £6m - so when a fee like £24m is forked out, it takes a lot for the player to justify such a fee to the extent that he is portrayed as excellent value for money.
So as Manchester City go about throwing huge sums of money around, with a large percentage of them failing to live up to such huge price tags, one David Silva has proved well worth the hefty £24m the Citizens paid Valencia for his services last summer. The diminutive little Spaniard has been one of City’s star performers this year and his importance to side is of great significance.
Roberto Mancini has built his team on resilience and defensive nous, with his conservativeness and insistence of using three midfield enforcers often criticised. But in Silva he has someone to add the relevant craft and quality that can not only open up a defence, but also control a game, even from his advanced position. There have been times this season where Silva has completely dominated a spell in a match, picking up dangerous positions and using the freedom of his position to roam across the pitch, using the ball with such elegance and class. Often occupying a wide slot, he is allowed the freedom to float about the pitch, giving City’s very rigid approach a more flexible look.
The Spaniard was initially tipped to struggle with the physicality of the Premier League upon arrival at Eastlands, but he has shown he has more than enough ability to make up for smaller stature. His seven assists and four goals in the league prove alone that he has accustomed well to his new surroundings, but his all-round contribution makes him such a central part of Mancini’s game-plan. The former Inter boss recently referred to Silva as the 'trequartista' of the team - a favoured Italian commodity which is widely used in Serie A. The trequartista is the team’s chief creator, who is given the licence to pull the strings and is often looked to when a team is struggling, hoping he can conjure up a game-changing moment. Silva perhaps doesn’t posses the individuality which comes with being a trequartista, but his technical ability and vision mean he does have the quality to create match-winning moments.
With Carlos Tevez currently out of action, Silva’s role is even more prominent. Tevez is the team’s talisman, but with him missing, Silva has to take on added responsibility in the attacking areas of the pitch, especially given Mario Balotelli’s general erratic nature, Adam Johnson’s inexperience, and with Eden Dzeko still settling in to his new club.
As City continue to outlay such expensive sums of money on players from around the globe, it' is inevitable that they will make expensive mistakes, as well as land some genuine world class talent. Silva undoubtedly falls into the latter category, and at just 25 years old, £24m for a player of his calibre for a lengthy period of time is a snip in this day in age.
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