City and David Silva Close to Agreeing Bumper Contract - Report

Manchester City are reportedly close to tying Spanish playmaker David Silva to a new five year deal. The 26 year old former Valencia winger signed for the English champions in 2010, for £24m and a four year contract and has established himself as one the club's and league's best attacking players.

His performances and form saw interest from Spanish champions Real Madrid, who were ready to offer City £30m for the Spain international. In fact, interest from Madrid has been long-standing, if tentative, with the nine time European champions having contacted Valencia back only months before Silva signed for Roberto Mancini's side.

However, Silva rubbished talk of his leaving the Etihad and was quoted as acknowledging and appreciating the interest from Madrid (and Barcelona) but committing himself to City.

"City believed in me and I'm very well here. Real Madrid and Barcelona are definitely two great clubs but I hope to stay in Manchester for many years," the 26 year old playmaker said back then.

In response, City were reported as scrambling to offer Silva a new deal. An earlier IBTimes UK report suggested club chiefs were readying a £200,000 per week five year deal (worth £52m in total) to the diminutive attacker, which would place him in the same wage bracket as Ivorian international Yaya Toure and Argentineans Carlos Tevez and Sergio Agüero.

Goal.com now reports negotiations between the club and the player's representatives have almost successfully concluded, with a £190,000 per week offer understood to be on the table. Silva's present contract expires in 2014 and the offered deal will extend it to 2017, which should effectively kill any hope of Madrid signing the player.

Manchester City are presently fourth in the Premier League, with seven points from three games. Mancini's side will resume the fight to defend the league title on 15 September, when they travel to play Stoke City. Then comes the big game... City's Champions League opener against, ironically, Real Madrid. The game will be on 18 September, at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid chiefs will certainly be keeping a close eye on Silva's performance should the contract not be signed by then.