Silva Stays

By: Cesar | August 13th, 2008

And after all that, all that lobbying by our friends over at the Real Madrid sports daily MARCA, by the folks beating their drums for Barcelona at Sport, the lapdogs at Goal.com and the English press, we can now proudly exclaim from the top of the Mestalla: David Silva is a Valencia player!

Can I say we told them so?

Ok, we told you so.

You see, although we had a rough go of it last season and although Silva’s value is at an all-time high after his more-than-impressive Euro 2008 campaign, Silva did something so rare in professional sports these days: he stayed where he was happy.

That’s it.

He didn’t go after the money and demand a transfer like some muppet from Manchester United (yes, he received a pay raise. But that’s justified) and he didn’t cry and scream that he was a slave like said muppet.

He simply decided to stay where he was comfortable, where he was happy, where he’s grown into one of the better players in European football.

Silva recently revealed that he has no desire to leave Spain – not even to link up with compatriots Rafa Benitez and Juande Ramos at Liverpool and Tottenham, who both expressed interest.

And the youngster’s future at the Mestalla is now effectively secured after he penned a new five-year deal yesterday, much to the delight of Valencia boss Fernando Gomez.

“It’s very satisfying to see the player’s willingness to stay,” Gomez told the press.

“The club will not do anything crazy or break our financial and sporting guidelines so we have gone as far as we have been able to. There is complete agreement between the club and the player David Silva that he will remain with us for the next five seasons. We have always expressed the hope that he will stay with us.”

Hallelujah!

Goal.com did a little feature about Silva’s decision. Here’s a little excerpt:

Valencia: rejoice! In a summer wildly tipped to shred the entire unit to pieces, the confirmation of David Silva staying on at the Mestalla must certainly be one silver lining that Los Che supporters would be hugely pleased with.

True, there are Damocles’ swords hanging over the future of Joaquin and even David Villa but Llorente’s declaration that David Silva is indeed going to play for Valencia next season is certainly going to seep hope and optimism into the heart of Valencia.

Because in a bicycle stand, when one bicycle falls, the rest follows suit. Because when one dog barks, the others start barking too. Because one rotten apple in a basket spoils the rest.

Because the exit of one key player from the Mestalla would have triggered fears of an exodus. Because had David Silva’s agent indeed still sounded uncertain, it would have implied the pathological dragging of an unwanted saga.

So now the attention turns to our other star, David Villa.

Again, the press is trying to lure him out of here. As recently as yesterday, El Guaje was pictured on the cover of MARCA, the headline pleading for Real Madrid to buy the striker.

Again, the lad’s expressed his desire to stay with us. Again, he’s said he’s happy here, he’d love to help the team get back to the Champions League, he’s not looking to leave. Yet the press won’t let the issue die.

Coach Unai Emery knows how he wants it.

“If Villa or Silva leave then it would be really bad,” Emery told Radio MARCA. You think??

“I am counting on them for this season and we are doing everything possible to ensure that they stay with us and that the fans can see them play every week. The club is going to try and keep them with us for as long as they can.”

Having taken over the reins at Valencia at the end of last season after a very successful spell with Almería, Emery has been surprised by the media attention on the club.

“One cannot believe the amount of news and stories written about this during pre-season. But we have had to learn to live with it because Valencia is a great club,” he added.

That they are. Am I included in this sporting press writing about the club??

Anyways …

Joaquin may be gone soon. As you know, he wanted his salary raised. Apparently, he felt his goofy grin and stepover ability warranted more money. The Valencia board thought differently and said, ‘You play better? We’ll pay you better.’

So he wants out.

Today, news that we’ve received a €15m bid from an unnamed Italian club. This appeared to have been confirmed by President Vicente Soriano, who when asked whether an offer had been made, responded: “This is not something that concerns me, this is the business of the sports director.”

Hmm …

According to Laromasiamonoi.it, the Italian club who have tabled the bid is Roma, who are looking for an attacking wideman following the sale of Mancini to Inter.

However, the Nerazzurri themselves are the other possible alternative. Jose Mourinho would still ideally like a winger for his 4-3-3 formation, and having given up on Porto’s Ricardo Quaresma, may plump for Joaquin, who he tried to sign a few years ago while at Chelsea.

Again, I’m against this move. A motivated, hungry Joaquin would be a dangerous asset for Los Che. I don’t agree with this move, but if it means Villa and Silva stay? See ya, Pisha.

Did you see this? Supposedly Racing Santander made an ambitious bid to land Hugo Viana, Éver Banega and Juanma Mata on loan and have been given the green light for two of them.

Guess which two? I can’t be bothered with Viana. I love Mata and would be very angry if he left.
And I’d be overjoyed if we loaned Banega out and didn’t sell him. The kid’s going to be a star. Mark my words.

Anyways, Viana and Banega are available and talks have already begun about the pair spending a season at El Sardinero, but there is no change that Mata will be leaving. Good going. Whoo! I can breathe some again …

Yesterday’s presentation game was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the new season and expel some of the nastiness of the past one.

The team didn’t disappoint, whipping Dutch side Vitesse 3-1 off two goals from the aforementioned Silva.

The biggest receptions of the night? Silva and Villa. Albelda? Mostly cheers. Some boos here and there. And of course, the crowd went nuts for Vicente, Baraja and Espanyeta.

The season’s almost here. I can’t wait.

Oh, two more notes.

1 – Arizmendi’s gone. The second coming of Angulo who scored THAT goal on Easter Sunday at the Bernabeu will now miss easy goals for Real Zaragoza in the 2nd Division to the tune of €4m, which is €2m less than we paid for him only 12 months ago when we bought him from Atlético Madrid.
That’s all I have to say about that. Last time I type this word. Arizmendi.

2 – For anyone in the New York City area, I’ll be holding court at Nevada Smith’s, 11th Street and 3rd Avenue to watch the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup this Sunday against Real Madrid. Come one, come all. Should be an awesome time. Bell time is 4pm. See ya this Sunday. I’ll be in the bright orange Valencia kit, circa 2004 with ‘Terra Mitica’ on it. AMUNT!!!!

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