David Silva could link up with former World Cup winners in Japan

Ahead of the start of the season, Manchester City star midfielder David Silva announced that he will part ways with the club at the end of the 2019-2020 season. 

Following the departure of long-serving club captain Vincent Kompany, Silva was also awarded the armband for his final season with the Premier League champions. 

'Merlin' joined Manchester City from Valencia way back in 2010 and has been a key part of the club's progress in the past decade, helping the club win four Premier League titles. The Spanish international will be leaving behind a legacy of his own and will forever be remembered as one of the greatest players to have played for the club. 

However, it is time for Silva to explore a new challenge and it is reported that he could be on his way to Japan to link up with his compatriot and former Spain teammate Andres Iniesta at Vissel Kobe. 

Vissel Kobe have already attracted a number of top European players at the twilight of their career including the likes of Andres Iniesta, Lukas Podolski and Silva's former Valencia and Spain teammate David Villa. 

Villa retired from football earlier this week and it seems that the club is already trying to bring in another superstar to replace the legendary striker.

Silva was earlier strongly linked with a move to David Beckham's Inter Miami franchise, which will begin it's journey in the Major League Soccer in the USA but Vissel Kobe looks to have stolen a march.

Japanese football has been on the rise in the last few years. Silva's former Spain teammate, Fernando Torres was another high-profile Spaniard to play in the Asian country, spending the 2018-19 season at Sagan Tosu before hanging up his boots. 

Apart from Andres Iniesta and Lukas Podolski, Vissel Kobe has several other reputed players in their ranks, including former Arsenal skipper, Thomas Vermaelen and former Barcelona midfielder, Sergi Samper. 

Even though Silva is 33 years old now, he still looks at the peak of his powers and remains an automatic choice in the first XI of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. And, the club will certainly have a tough time in order to find a capable successor of the former World Cup winner. 

The Spain international has already played 409 times for the blue half of Manchester, finding the back of the net 73 times. 

His creativity and ability to control the game has been a huge reason why Manchester City have had a really successful decade in terms of trophies. The playmaker laid on a staggering 134 assists in his time in England. 

Silva has been a part of all four of City's Premier League-winning teams and has also helped them win the FA Cup twice and the League Cup four times. He also played a vital role for Spain in their two European Championship and one World Cup triumph. 

Yaya Toure left in 2018. Kompany already left last summer and David Silva will leave in the summer of 2020. Also, Sergio Aguero does not have lot of football left in him. 

So it is fair to say that Manchester City's golden generation will soon depart the club completely and they need to bring in able replacements of such iconic players.

Feature image credit- talkSPORT