Friday 13 October 2017 23:17, UK
Pep Guardiola is hoping David Silva commits to a new Manchester City contract.
Silva's current deal has less than two years to run, having signed a five-year extension in 2014 and, at 31, he is one of the oldest players in the City squad.
But the Spain international has had another blistering start to the season and registered more assists (six) than any other player in the Premier League so far.
Guardiola admits a new deal is down to City director of football Txiki Begiristain but said: "We would like for him to stay until he decides, okay, it's over."
"There are no doubts about David. I think he has recognition all around the world for how good he is. His team-mates give him a lot of credit about his quality, like the fans and the media. He's a special player; a player I like a lot.
"He's intelligent, he's a fighter, he's a competitor, he's a winner, he's a guy who has the quality to keep the ball, to play. He's such an important player for us. He loves to be here.
"He's part of the history; the generation from Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure - the guys that gave the club the important step up to consider Manchester City as a good, good team. They help us a lot and David is one of them."
City spent £43m on Bernardo Silva - a similar player - in the summer but Guardiola insists it was not with a view to phasing out Silva - a veteran playmaker with 277 City appearances and 116 Spain caps under his belt.
Guardiola said: "Last season we had Fabian Delph, who was injured most of the time. We did not have (Ilkay) Gundogan, who was six or seven months injured. We didn't have too many replacements for David and Kevin (De Bruyne).
"They played a lot, and they need a little bit of a break to be at the high level. So we took Bernardo, who can play in three or four positions, and Gundogan is back."
