David Silva: Manchester City move was one of the best decisions I made
David Silva says joining Manchester City eight years ago was "one of the best decisions" of his life, despite interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid at the time. The Spain midfielder, then 24, was signed from Valencia in July 2010. Silva accepts it is a dream for most Spanish footballers to play for Barca or Real, but says the strength of City's interest that proved decisive. "City wanted me," he says in an interview for the Premier League Show. "They had been calling me since December, asking me to come and play for them. "I thought, 'who wants me? City want me, so that's where I'll go'. "Back then I was living with my parents and they were getting divorced and it was the right time to get away from there, from Spain, and live a new experience. It turns out I made the right move." In a rare and wide-ranging interview with Gary Lineker, which you can watch on Thursday at 22:00 BST on BBC Two and the BBC Sport website and app, Silva also talks about:
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2018-09-14 02:00:00
Manchester City break
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says the club's journey "is not complete" despite reporting revenues in excess of
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2018-09-14 02:00:00
Hugo Lloris: 'Lucky' Hugo Lloris keeps Tottenham captaincy
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was "lucky there was no consequence" of his drink-driving - but he will keep the Spurs captaincy. The 31-year-old was fined
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2018-09-14 02:00:00
Romelu Lukaku: Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho 'does not fake emotions'
Jose Mourinho is "real" and does not fake his emotions like other managers in the Premier League, says Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku. United boss Mourinho demanded respect from the media after an angry news conference following a 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Old Trafford in August. But Lukaku says the Portuguese is a family man, makes the players laugh and fights for them, and deserves respect. "People know a side from him which is he's a winner," said Lukaku. "But what I like about him is he's not going to fake his emotions. When he's mad, you know he is mad. When he's happy, you see he is happy. "I don't understand why people don't like the realness about him. When he's mad at me I know he is mad at me, and I try to do what he wants so he is happy again." In an interview with Dion Dublin on Football Focus [Saturday at 12:00 BST on BBC One], the Belgium forward also talks about learning from former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry and ex-Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, his relationship with ex-Everton manager Ronald Koeman and wanting to finish his career with no regrets.
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2018-09-14 02:00:00
Manchester United recovered from back-to-back defeats to beat Burnley despite Paul Pogba missing a penalty and Marcus Rashford being sent off.
Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the first half as the Red Devils - beaten by Brighton and Tottenham in their previous two Premier League matches - were largely untroubled by their hosts. Pogba had the chance to stretch United's lead midway through the second half but his penalty - after Aaron Lennon fouled Rashford - was saved by former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. And two minutes later the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Rashford was sent off for leaning into Burnley defender Phil Bardsley with his head. That made the closing stages unnecessarily tense for Jose Mourinho's side, but the Clarets were unable to find a way through. Victory took United up to 10th in the table - level on points with Everton in seventh.
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2018-09-03 02:00:00
Watford 2-1 Tottenham: Jermaine Jenas says Spurs must find way to win on off-days
To this day, I cannot remember a game in which Spurs have not played well, and still won. Everybody enjoys watching Tottenham because they play lovely football and are great on the eye, but too many times they are unable to grind out a result. They don't have that other ingredient. Against Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday, it was a day to decide that if you're not going to win - and Spurs were not great - at least don't get beaten.
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2018-09-03 02:00:00
Manchester United in discussions over new Anthony Martial contract
Manchester United are in discussions with Anthony Martial's representatives over a new long-term contract. Martial, 22, has a year left on his present deal but United have the option to extend by a further season. Earlier this summer Martial's agent said the France forward wanted to leave the club because of a lack of playing opportunities. Tottenham made an inquiry, and it is understood that United manager Jose Mourinho was open to a deal. Chelsea's Willian and Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic were being suggested as replacements. His exit was blocked, however, with United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward believing Mourinho should get more out of him. It is understood United want to sign the Frenchman for an additional five years. A
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2018-08-30 02:00:00
Steven Gerrard: Rangers boss picked a back three at Motherwell. Did it cost him?
When something is going well for you, why change it? Rangers manager Steven Gerrard had huge success in his first 10 games in charge by playing a back four. They kept six clean sheets. Only conceded four times. And did not lose a single goal away from home in three European ties. So why go to a back three for Sunday's trip to Motherwell? To me, it seems that Gerrard did it so he could get Kyle Lafferty into the side alongside Alfredo Morelos in attack in a sort of 3-5-2 shape. But Motherwell use that system and the decision played into their hands and contributed to Rangers' spilling two points, with Peter Hartley's stoppage-time goal earning the Fir Park side a 3-3 draw that they fully deserved.
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2018-08-28 02:00:00
Can Wolves and their ambitious owners eventually emulate Man City's rise to the top?
It is almost 10 years since Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City and transformed the club from noisy neighbours into one of England's finest. In their own way, the Chinese Fosun Group are attempting something similar at Wolves. As they celebrated promotion from the Championship in April, senior executives spoke of their vision to make Wolves "one of the best clubs in the world". It was fitting therefore on Saturday that City should visit Molineux so close to their anniversary, offering an opportunity to see how Wolves are doing - and more importantly - just how far they have to go. Wolves were league champions three times in the 1950s and are ranked inside England's top 10 most successful clubs, but have spent only four seasons out of the last 34 in the top flight. With the club's fans singing an anthem that ends "we're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back", is it realistic to think Wolves can match their owners' ambitions and get themselves back among the trophy contenders and title challengers?
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2018-08-28 02:00:00
Who can come close to Salah?
Mohamed Salah has been involved in the most goals in the Premier League in 2018 and the Egyptian continued his rich vein of form by grabbing the winner against Brighton on Saturday. But can you guess who comes in behind the Liverpool forward in second? It's probably not who you would think. West Ham's Marko Arnautovic is second on the list - the Austrian has had a hand in 14 Premier League goals in 2018 (eight goals, six assists), second only to Salah (22). The Hammers forward was on the scoresheet again on Saturday when he gave the visitors the lead at the Emirates, before Arsenal scored three to claim their first win under new boss Unai Emery.