The astonishing reason why Real Madrid rejected David Silva move | OneFootball

David Silva brought up his 400th appearance for Manchester City at the weekend, putting him 11th on their all-time list.

But the Spaniard’s career could have taken a very different turn a decade ago.

Back in 2010 Silva was lighting up LaLiga with Valencia and was attracting attention from some of the world’s biggest clubs.

One of those being Real Madrid.

According to a story in The Athletic though, Los Blancos president Florentino Perez pulled the plug on a proposed move because of his ‘drinking and partying lifestyle’.

Yeah, really.

Allegedly Perez was so wowed by the then-24-year-old’s performance at Santiago Bernabeu, that he told the playmaker: “Take your suitcase to our locker room, because next year you will be with us.”

However just as a deal was set to be completed, the president pulled out of the move because Silva ‘didn’t act with the required dignity’ for the famous white shirt.

In the end Silva moved to City and the rest, as they say, is history.