Golden boy Silva shines for City

In his second season in the Premier League, David Silva now receives the treatment befitting a player of his caliber, so much so that against Everton on Saturday afternoon David Moyes, the experienced coach of the Merseyside club, deployed Jack Rodwell and Phil Neville in shifts to shadow the Canarian's every move. It didn't work: in the 88th minute, Silva picked up a wayward pass in the Everton half. Surrounded by opponents, he elected to bide his time and wait for support. With complete dominion of time and space, Silva danced with the ball while his rivals could only watch and then launched an inch-perfect pass to James Milner, who gratefully finished the move.

Silva has participated in 18 goal-scoring opportunities for Manchester City this season - including four successful assists and two goals - more than any other player in the Premier League. The arrival of French schemer Samir Nasri from Arsenal has only served to emphasize the Spaniard's qualities, with both players providing the passes for City's well-stocked forward line: Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko as starters; Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tévez in reserve. City coach Roberto Mancini uses a nominal 4-2-2-2 formation - although the movement of the front four is impossible to illustrate in such terms with its components constantly switching positions - with Yayá Touré and Gareth Barry shielding the back four and allowing Silva complete freedom to roam.

Last season City won the FA Cup after a 36-year hiatus, with Silva contributing six goals and 15 assists to the campaign. This year, Silva is in even finer form, the product of a summer free of tournament soccer. "Silva is a top player," says Mancini. "I don't know why he didn't go to Real or Barça, but we are very lucky: he is one of the best in the world."

A World Cup winner he may be, but Silva has bitter-sweet memories of South Africa. After the opening loss to Switzerland he played just five minutes in the rest of the competition. It was a different story to the European Championships in 2008, where he was a key element in Spain's triumph. Since Johannesburg, Silva has been flitting in and out of friendly matches and European qualifiers for La Roja, without feeling a wanted player.

It seems Vicente del Bosque doesn't know quite what to with one of Spain's most gifted midfielders, although Andrés Iniesta's likely absence through injury for the upcoming matches against Scotland and the Czech Republic may provide some insight. However, the form of Cesc Fàbregas, another part-timer for Spain, at Barcelona is not to Silva's advantage.

Not so at City, where the Canarian is regarded as the best piece of business carried out under the wealthy reign of the Abu Dhabi United Group. Silva's wiles will be needed on Tuesday when City takes on Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Mancini's side tied 1-1 with Napoli in Manchester and faces a difficult task to escape the so-called Group of Death that also includes Villarreal, which lost to Bayern on match day one. The Yellow Submarine travels to Naples on Tuesday night (GolTV, 8.45pm), where the home side has not lost in Europe since 1994.

Silva's former side, Valencia, welcomes Chelsea to Mestalla, where Juan Mata will be reunited with his erstwhile teammates following his summer switch to London, and Fernando Torres will hope to be reunited once more with the back of the net, having scored twice in successive league matches after a barren spell since his January move to The Blues. Real hosts Ajax at the Bernabéu (TVE-1, 8.45pm).