David Silva ends retirement to sign for Hong Kong side Sha Tin

David Silva has come out of retirement to sign for Hong Kong Premier League club Sha Tin, the 40-year-old announced on 7 October 2026. The former Manchester City midfielder left the game in 2023 but will return to professional football with the Hong Kong outfit.

Silva won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain and scored 60 Premier League goals in a decade at Manchester City. He collected four Premier League titles with City and 11 major honours across 10 years at the club, where he also has a statue outside the Etihad Stadium; the first three of those league titles came during the period in which Manchester City have been found guilty of breaches of the league's financial rules, something the club have appealed against. He retired in 2023 after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear during pre-season training at Real Sociedad.

"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," Silva said in an Instagram video.

"David Silva will be in Hong Kong soon to settle in, link up with squad training, and build up to peak match fitness before making his pitch debut," Sha Tin said.

Sha Tin sit eighth in the Hong Kong Premier League after four matches. The club's next fixture is against Hong Kong Football Club on Sunday, 18 October.