David Silva has come out of retirement at the age of 40 to join Hong Kong Premier League club Sha Tin.
The midfielder spent a decade at Manchester City, where he won four Premier League titles and collected 11 major honours in total. The first three of those league titles came during the period in which City have been found guilty of breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, a finding the club have appealed against. Silva also scored 60 Premier League goals across his ten years at the club and has a statue outside the Etihad Stadium.
With Spain, Silva won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships, establishing himself as one of the leading midfielders of his generation before leaving City.
He originally retired in 2023 after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear during pre-season training at Real Sociedad.
Speaking about the move, Silva said in an Instagram video: “I’m so excited to go to Hong Kong and enjoy the local culture, the food in Sha Tin and, of course, football in Hong Kong.”
Sha Tin currently sit eighth in the league after four matches, with their next fixture against Hong Kong Football Club on Sunday, 18 October. The club said Silva will arrive in Hong Kong soon to settle in, link up with squad training and build towards peak match fitness before making his pitch debut.