Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany paid tribute to David Silva's "exceptional achievement" of growing into a "main player" for the club.
Silva joined City from Valencia in 2010 after developing into one of LaLiga's most impressive players and has established himself as a key performer in the Premier League.
Initially there were questions over his adaptation with respect to the physicality of English football, but the 31-year-old swiftly silenced any doubters.
This season he is arguably playing his best football since moving to England, already racking up eight assists in 15 appearances for a City side seemingly destined for the title.
And Kompany cannot emphasise enough how far he has come since his early struggles.
On 's development and 's City career so far... The captain speaks! December 4, 2017
He told Premier League Productions: "It's well known by City fans about a kind of a slow progression. It was a difficult six months [for Silva], dealing with tough tackles and people targeting him because they thought he's not used to that.
"And all of a sudden he switched it on, did what all great players do and adapted. And then everything from there, he has been a main player for this club for such a long time.
"It's quite an exceptional achievement really."
One player who will be eager to have a similar impact on City during his time at the club is Raheem Sterling, someone else arguably enjoying his best campaign.
The England international has nine goals – already two more than he managed last season – from 10 starts and is a key part of Pep Guardiola's team, something Kompany wants him to continue to be for the next four or five years.
"The thing with Raheem is, the talent is there for everyone to see," Kompany added. "I don't think there's any doubt about that.
"But it's whether he wanted to take ownership of being the main guy, or one of them, and he's certainly on that path. And I said same about Leroy Sane a couple of weeks ago.
"For them now it's about consistency, achieving this level, going on holiday and then coming back and doing it again and again.
"In four or five year's time then nobody needs to say anything [about their ability] anymore – everyone will [already] know."
