‘I’ve played with Vieira, Shearer and Tevez, but this player left me gobsmacked the most’

Shay Given shared a dressing room with some of football’s biggest names across his two-decade-long career as a professional.

“I played with Alan Shearer for a long number of years,” replied the 134-cap Irish international when quizzed on which of his former team-mates had the most talent

“Carlos Tevez was brilliant as well, and Patrick Vieira towards the end of his career. What a player he was.”

But it was a floppy-haired 5ft5in Spaniard who left Given the most gobsmacked as a player.

By the time David Silva had arrived at Manchester City in 2010, fresh off the back of winning the World Cup with Spain, Given had been at the club for the best part of 18 months.

In his first and only season alongside El Mago, Given was part of the City team that ended a three-decade-long wait for a major trophy, winning the 2011 FA Cup.

“He was a wizard, some of the stuff he used to do,” the goalkeeper exclusively told Express Sport. “He made the game seem so easy. It wasn’t easy. But nobody could ever get near him.

“You’d sit there thinking ‘How is that possible?’ because he always had time on the ball. How can David Silva have so much space on the edge of the box when everybody knows he’s one of the best players in the Premier League?”

Silva endeared himself to the City faithful in double quick time. In just his seventh league appearance for the club, Silva opened up his Premier League account, curling home a stylish left-footed effort away to Blackpool.

“I think even the Blackpool tower took a swing left at one point,” a giggling Given stated when reflecting on Silva’s stunner against the Seasiders.

Picking it up on the far-right corner of the 18-yard box, Silva, with a telepathic understanding of where the ball was at his feet, sent two Blackpool defenders flying with a disguised fake shot, before eventually picking out a spot in the far left corner and curling home perhaps his most memorable City goal of all time.

Blackpool Goalkeeper Matt Gilks, resigned to the outcome, remained unmoved as Silva peeled off his shirt and celebrated a maiden Premier League goal.

A further 59 in the league would follow, with Silva eventually ending his stint at City in 2020 after 10 years and 13 major honours.

But it was that FA Cup-winning season in 2010/11 that left such a lasting impression on Given. And can anyone really blame him?

Shay Given is a brand ambassador for sports betting platform CopyBet. Visit CopyBet.com