ACL injury to force Spanish soccer legend David Silva into premature retirement

Be it in Manchester or all of Spain, the name David Silva is synonymous with winning.

The Gran Canaria-born midfielder has 19 team trophies to his name and a bevy of incredible on-field skills and plays that earned him the nickname “El Mago“. He has continued to perform admirably even as he entered the back-end of his career, but unfortunately Father Time comes for every professional athlete – sometimes sooner than anticipated.

The dreadful injury

On July 20 during a training session, Silva suffered what Real Sociedad (his current club) deemed an “anterior cruciate ligament injury” that requires a “specialist’s evaluation” that will come the following week. Shortly after, reports began surfacing that Silva is on the verge of retirement due to the injury.

Silva’s current contract with Real Sociedad is slated to run until the end of this upcoming season. Clearly, the injury is serious enough that the player doesn’t believe he will make it back to the field before it ends.

That would lead us to believe that the 37-year-old was going to retire at the end of this season. It might have been a decision to make once summer rolled around, but this new injury seems to have made up his mind.

An outstanding body of work

Silva will ride off into the sunset as one of the most successful players in the history of the sport, both at club and international levels.

He began his career by rising through Valencia‘s ranks and exploding with their senior side in 2006. His performances in LaLiga caught the eye of Manchester City, who paid a hefty sum to transfer him over to the Premier League in 2010. Silva quickly made an impact in England, helping Manchester City capture their first Premier League title since 1968.

The dynamic playmaker was a regular first-teamer for the managers that passed through Manchester. He ended up appearing in 436 games and winning 13 trophies with the club.

Internationally, Silva was front and center during Spain‘s most prolific period in their national team’s history. Silva played an important role during Spain’s incredible four year stretch where they won the 2008 Euros, 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euros.