Sir Alex Ferguson reveals why he chose not to sign David Silva at Manchester United

David Silva joined Manchester City from Valencia in 2010

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken about his thoughts on not pursuing David Silva as he was not willing to adapt United’s tactics for a No.10. He was also worried about the Spaniard’s defensive deficiencies, Mirror reports. Ferguson has admitted that he spotted one major flaw in Silva’s game before he ended up signing for their bitter rivals Manchester City.

The former Valencia player is regarded as one of the most outstanding playmakers in Europe along with players like Andres Iniesta, Mesut Ozil and Cesc Fabregas. Ever since he joined Manchester City for £24 million in 2010, he has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and a League Cup. Silva has fared well at international competitions, too, by winning the World Cup and Euro with La Roja.

The Scot has been a long-term admirer of the Spain international and even scouted the World Cup winner during his time at Mestalla Stadium. But Ferguson has revealed in his new book Leading, that he felt a player like Silva did not do enough to help his team without the ball.

“We watched Silva a lot when he was at Valencia,” Ferguson said. “And the other player they had, the same type, years before it, played in that No. 10 role.

“My problem with that was you have to be very, very good to play in that position, because there's no defensive duties for them.

“So if you're wanting to be really successful, everyone has to do their turn, has to work, you know? So I had a difficulty with that,” he explained.

“But, in the end, of course, there's the greats. You could say Lionel Messi was a No. 10 type, [Diego] Maradona, some fantastic players, and I don't dispute that. But at United we always found it difficult. The kind of No.10 I used came from my experience as a footballer.”

He further added: “When I started to lose my pace a bit, up front, I started to drop in, into the hole, in a different way to the No.10s you're talking about. I realised then the defenders found it difficult to cope with it, so all my teams had one striker and one playing off. Not in the hole, but playing off the front.”

The 29-year-old is set to miss the Manchester derby later this month due to the injury he picked during the Euro qualifiers last weekend. Silva was part of the team when Ferguson’s side suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at home to the Citizens in 2011.

The playmaker was one of the goal scorers in the match and he has helped them win on three of their last four trips to Old Trafford.