Silva: Guardiola makes you feel important

Silva joined City during the summer from French champions Monaco is a deal reported to be worth £43m, but has found opportunities hard to come by so far this season as City challenge on all fronts.

The 23-year-old has only made six Premier League starts this season but in an interview with The Mirror', the Portuguese insisted that he is content in Manchester.

“When you come into a new club, you always want to make a big impact”, he admitted.

“But I knew that signing for a big club like City meant I would have to fight hard because I would be in a squad with so many great players.

“When I look at the team and the way we have been playing this season, I know I cannot expect the coach to make a lot of changes. In the middle Kevin (De Bruyne) and David (Silva) are having ­amazing seasons. Then there is (Raheem) Sterling and (Leroy) Sane playing out wide and scoring so many great goals.

“Those players are contributing so much I have realised that I have to be patient and keep doing my work in training. I am still a young player, I still have a lot to learn and I will just keep giving my best contribution to help the team.

“Would I have liked to have played more? Of course. But I am happy in Manchester”.

The Portuguese was also full of praise for City boss Pep Guardiola, saying that the Spaniard makes each and every one of his players fell important, though he also also demands a lot of his player.

“One of the best things about playing for Pep is that he makes you feel important", Silva explained.

“Of course, it will always happen that some players play more games than others, but he makes ­everyone feel part of the squad. That’s why we have such a great atmosphere inside the dressing room. When you’re not playing, he ­always finds some words to give you confidence and trust, so that, when you are called on to the pitch, you feel good.

“The coach is very intense. He goes into the very small details and he gets very close to his players because he wants you to have the confidence to try to play the way he wants.

“He makes it clear that he only asks us to play this way because we have all of his trust. If we score one goal, he wants two goals. If we score four goals, he wants five goals.

“When we had won 10 games in succession, he said, ‘Very good – now let’s try to make it 11’. That’s how he is. He wants ­perfection.”

Young, foreign players moving to the Premier League often fall victim to 'culture shock', but Silva says that he is enjoying life in Manchester, despite the weather not quite being up to the standards he is used to.

“Before I arrived here, everyone said to me, ‘Oh ­Manchester is such a bad city, you will get sick of it after two months’," Silva recalled.

“But I think it is a great place to live. I live in the centre, so I am never bored. I have all the shops, the bars and the ­restaurants and there is always ­entertainment.

“Manchester reminds me of ­Lisbon – apart from the weather and the beaches.

“I have to be ­honest, the weather is terrible!”

Finally, despite manager Pep Guardiola and several members of the City squad having played down the club's chances of winning the quadruple, Silva has his eye firmly set on making history.

“Pep is always telling us that the big players and big teams cannot pick and choose which trophies they want to win", said the former Monaco man.

“We know the Premier League and the Champions League are the most important ones, but we are a club that is expected to go for all the trophies.

"That is what we have done with the League Cup – and now we have reached the final. And it will be the same mentality when we play in the FA Cup against Cardiff. We go 100 per cent in every competition.

“I don’t think winning four trophies has been done before, has it? So winning four would make history.

“We know that is tough – but we have to try.”