David Silva is convinced the growing Barcelona influence at Manchester City can only be good for the club.

With ex-Barcelona men Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain now pulling the strings at City, Silva is confident they will soon be challenging the Catalan giants.

He said: "They were part of a club which won every title there was to win in both Spain and in Europe. They were part of a very successful era at Barca. Hopefully that's what they are bringing here and we can do something similar.

"We hope one day we'll be able to be a club that is talked about like Barcelona. It's hard to say we are close because although we won the Premier League, we went out of the Champions League early.

"But it's a question of working at it and trying to make more of an impact in Europe. I cannot put my finger on what it was. All I can say is when I came to City they were looking to get in the top four.

"Since then they have won the Premier League, the FA Cup and we have qualified for the Champions League twice. People cannot expect to win the Champions League straight away. We've got very good players and we will get there.

"I want to win it with City - but it is one step at a time."