Ahead of the Manchester Derby this weekend and on the back of committing his future to the blue half of the city we caught up with David Silva, behind-the-scenes at his adidas #therewillbehaters shoot. After switching between adidas boot silos for the past few seasons the diminutive midfielder is set on the F50 adizero and was in reflective mood talking to us about his time in England.
David, you recently signed a new 5-year-deal with Manchester City, you must be pretty happy in England then?
DS: I'm very happy here, we've we won the Premier League twice and all the cups in England, and the team is growing and that's why I signed and that's why I'm staying. You never know what can happen in football, things can change so quickly even in just one year but at the moment I'm very happy here.
When you signed in 2010 did you think you'd be signing a long extension 5 years later?
DS: No! No, because I didn't know what to expect! I knew there would be lots of energy and excitement but did I think I'd be signing such a long deal this year? I'd have to say no, but I'm very happy I am, I have no regrets.
Bet you didn't think you'd be known by the name 'Merlin' either!? That's obviously a reference to the wizard, care to talk us through how that started?
DS: Haha! It was in a pre-season match against Inter Milan, Joleon Lescott and Shaun Wright-Phillips came up with it, and since then it's just stuck! It's not the worst nickname in the squad so I'm happy with it!
As you said, you've won everything in England, could you have thought your work was done here and moved back to Spain?
DS: Even if I had offers from Spain I'd say that I'm happy here. The only thing we want now is to win the title again and hopefully to win the Champions League also. We want to win everything every season, if you want to be at a good level you have to be motivated, in football if you are not 100% and you are not motivated there is always someone pushing you out the side and if you are not 100% you are not going to play. The Champions League is the big one for us, we'd love to win that. When I arrived here the team had never been in the Champions League and now we're expected to win it, so it's different.
You're happy on the pitch but what's life like off it, what do you get up in your time off?
DS: Not much, not much. I'm always at home with my family, resting, we play so many games so it's difficult to do other things! I keep myself to myself, I've always been like that since I was young, I always like to be a calm guy, I'm very shy, so I stay out of the media when I can.
Do you get back home to Gran Canaria when you can?
DS: Yes, when I can, when I have some free time. Going back to your home town is always beautiful, to see family and friends. My old friends are still the same, I'm still the same boy that grew up in Arguineguín, they know that, even though they know things have change a lot with my career. I have the same friends since I was little, the ones I used to play football with, we used to play everywhere growing up, in the streets, on the beach, on the football pitch, in the school, every day.
You started the season in the adidas 11Pro but now you're wearing the F50 adizero, in fact you've worn all adidas silos over the last two seasons, what's all that about?
DS: I like to try them all, but when I get used to one I will stay in them for a while, I started wearing the 11Pro in pre-season and then the new adizero came out, I tried it and I'm comfortable in it now. adidas have always sent me prototypes and asked me which ones I prefer so I like wearing all the boots!
So you're staying in the F50 for the rest of the season then?
DS: For the time being yes, I feel comfortable, but maybe in the future I would like to try another kind of boot... adidas are always sending me exciting things so who knows.
The Premier League had a reputation that players need to be big and strong, you've proved that theory wrong. Were you surprised how quickly you took to the league?
DS: Yes, to be honest I had to adapt very fast, but my team-mates and all the people here helped me. My height has never held me back. I think it's the same for every footballer, we all growing up wanting to play and enjoying to play but I never thought I'd win 2 Premier Leagues or World Cups or European Cups, I never thought that.
Playing under Manuel Pellegrini, how does that compare to other managers in your time at City?
DS: Manuel likes to attack, he gives us the opportunity to be creative and last year we beat the record in number of goals scored and we won the league by creating lots of chances and scoring lots of goals. This year is a little bit harder because we have been conceding goals too. We have to find the right balance in attack and defence but for midfielders like myself it's great that he trusts us to attack.
No international tournament this summer, you must be looking forward to some much need time off?
DS: Yes I am, but it's not a big break though as we have 2 National Team matches. It's good to rest your body in the summer as the Premier League is a very hard competition but for me it's more important to rest your mind too, to obviously keep fit but not think about football for a couple of weeks, I think that's equally as healthy.
