David Silva reveals Manchester City absence has been due to extremely premature birth of his son, Mateo

The midfielder, 31, has missed the festive period to be with his family

Wednesday 03 January 2018 13:48 GMT
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David Silva will return to first-team action when he is ready
David Silva will return to first-team action when he is ready

David Silva has revealed the personal reasons that have kept him out of the Manchester City team since last month.

The Spanish international played for the Premier League leaders on 23 December as they beat Bournemouth 4-0, and featured in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Watford, but was absent from the games in between. He also missed the side's clash against Tottenham, with Pep Guardiola revealing on New Year’s Eve that he didn’t know when Silva would return.

“I don’t know,” admitted Guardiola, when asked when Silva will be back.

“When he is ready, he will come back. But his personal life is always more important than any other situation.

“So, when he comes back it’s because he’s ready, welcome. That is what we have to do.”

But the 31-year-old midfielder published a note on Wednesday revealing that he had taken time away from the game because his wife had given birth to an extremely premature baby boy, who doctors are doing everything possible to keep in good health.

“I want to thank all of you for the love and good wishes received in the last few weeks,” it said.

“Special thanks to my teammates, the manager and all at the club for understanding my situation.

“Also I want to share with you the birth of my son Mateo, who was born extremely preterm and is fighting day by day with the help of the medical team."

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