David Silva undergoes surgery which forced his retirement from football

Back in July, it was confirmed that David Silva suffered a serious ACL injury during pre-season training with Real Sociedad. As a result, the veteran called time on his playing career, with no prospect of playing for at least nine months.

The news was a bitter blow for La Real, as Silva was regarded as their talisman, and he was undoubtedly one of their best players, despite being 37.

On Thursday, almost two months on from when he first sustained the injury, Silva underwent surgery to fix his anterior cruciate ligament, which was ruptured during the incident which brought his playing career to a close. He posted a photo on X to confirm that the surgery was successful.

Silva will now begin a long recuperation process. He is expected to stick around at Real Sociedad at this time, during which he is also rumoured to be mentoring Arsen Zakharyan, the Russian international signed to be his replacement.