David Silva explains how nearly losing his young son helped keep football in perspective

Manchester City star David Silva has opened up about how nearly losing his baby son helped put things football and life into perspective.

The Spaniard’s partner Yessica gave birth to Mateo back in December 2017, but the newborn spent his first five months in hospital in Valencia.

Silva, 34, spent that time flying from Manchester to Spain, all while trying to keep his footballing career afloat and help City win the Premier League.

But now looking back on those trials and tribulations, Silva says that he knows now not to fret over the small stuff and to focus on what really matters to him.

Writing in ‘El Mago’, Silva admitted: “I think you learn to value the important things in life. I don’t waste my time doing my head in about stupid things that don’t really matter and don’t waste time worrying over nothing.

“So yeah, it puts things in perspective.

“They were the hardest few months of my life. I don’t think anyone can ever be prepared for something like that.

“Until you physically go through that situation, you can’t appreciate what it would be like. Everyone has an image of a premature child but until you live and experience it you just don’t know how bad it is.”

Instead of being frustrated at his absence, Pep Guardiola and his team-mates publicly supported Silva.

During his first game that he was forced to rush to be with Yessica and Mateo, Kevin de Bruyne celebrated his strike against Tottenham by signalling Silva’s squad number, 21, to the camera.

“It is something that I’ll be grateful for forever,” Silva added of the dressing room solidarity he was shown.

“I owe Pep Guardiola, my team-mates and the club so much. Everyone was so supportive. My head wasn’t in Manchester and Pep recognised it was better for the team, and my own well-being, if I was with my family.

“I had to be close to them. If it hadn’t happened this way, there’s no way I’d have been able to deal with everything. All of the coming and going to and from Valencia would have been too much.”

Sky Blues skipper Silva is set to leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of this season after writing himself into the history books at City.

And a new book entitled ‘El Mago’ will pay homage to his 10 years of service to the Premier League champions.

David Silva: El Mago – A Decade Of Magic, an official Manchester City book, is on sale June 4 from shop.mancity.com or Amazon.