Darren Fletcher has hailed David Silva as the Manchester City “heartbeat” and the player of all his teammates adore.
Stoke City and former Manchester United midfielder Fletcher explained that the Spanish playmaker is the one in Pep Guardiola’s side who “has got the respect” of all his team.
Fletcher identified Silva as the player Manchester United will need to fear more than anyone else ahead of Sunday’s mouthwatering Premier League showdown.
“City have so many fantastic players, but there is one who is more influential than all the others in terms of making them tick – David Silva,” Fletcher told Radio Five Live, as quoted by the BBC Sport website.
“When you play against them, you can see Silva has got the respect of all the City team. I would relate it to how my United team was with Paul Scholes.
“Yes, Raheem Sterling is arguably their form player and is so dangerous with his runs, and how he penetrates defences and gets behind them.
“And they have got Sergio Aguero too, who is always such a threat, but Silva is the one for me who is the heartbeat of that team.”
OPINION
It is quite remarkable that Silva turns 33 in January. He is playing better than ever, a huge statement for a three-times Premier League winner who has won the World Cup and twice been a European champion, but one that is easy to argue if harder to quantify. There will be plenty of opponents counting down the days to the end of his City contract in the summer of 2020, at which point Silva says he could extend his deal or return to his native Spain. Many City fans are convinced that Silva, and not Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany or Yaya Toure, is the club’s greatest-ever player as well as being the most lavish gift of the Abu Dhabi era. United will have a plan A, B and C to stop Silva tomorrow, which could well include countryman Ander Herrera, but the wizard is so good they could all prove fruitless. Blessed with a peerless first touch, incredible technical gifts and the vision of a maestro, Silva also has a big-game mentality. When it comes to the elite matches, he always turns up and delivers.