David Silva has revealed next season will be his last for Manchester City.
The 33-year-old has spent the last nine years at City and established himself as an all-time Premier League great.
Silva’s current deal is due to expire at the end of next season and the former Spain international has confirmed he will not renew his deal.
“No, this is the last one,” he told BBC Sport. “Ten years for me is enough. It’s the perfect time for me.
“Initially, City were talking about two years, but I decided to sign [for] another one, so I finished at 10 years.
“It completes the cycle. It’s a nice round figure. I can never see myself playing against City for another team. So 10 years – that’s it.”
Replacing someone of Silva’s class would normally be an almost impossible task, but City remarkably already have his successor at the club.
The Premier League champions signed Bernardo Silva from Monaco in the summer of 2017 after earmarking the Portugal international as Silva’s long-term replacement.
Bernardo was arguably City’s best player during their domestic treble-winning campaign last season and he will help ease the blow of Silva’s departure next summer.
Silva has played a direct hand in 34 goals in the last two Premier League campaigns (15 goals, 19 goals).
Moreover, Silva has the seventh best WhoScored rating (7.40) in the division in that time (30+ appearances).
