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David Silva will be allowed to set his own schedule at Manchester City after announcing the premature birth of his son.

The Spanish playmaker, who missed the majority of City's Christmas schedule due to 'family' issues, revealed baby boy Mateo is 'fighting day by day' after being born 'extremely' prematurely.

And Pep Guardiola has told him he can

as and when required to be with partner Yessica Suarez Gonzalez.

“He’s free to stay or leave, it depends,” said the City manager. “He wants to stay because he enjoys it a lot, but family is the most important thing in life.

“It doesn’t matter if we drop a lot of points because he is not here. I will never push him.

“Some days he will be here, some he will be out, it depends how his family is.”

In a statement Silva said: “I want to thank all of you for the love and good wishes received in the last few weeks. Special thanks to my teammates, the manager and all at the club for understanding my situation.

“Also I want to share with you the birth of my son, Mateo, who was born extremely preterm and is fighting day by day with the help of the medical team.”

Silva played just once over Christmas, with City attributing his absence to personal reasons.

He was back in the starting XI against Watford on Tuesday night as the Premier League leaders extended their advantage at the top of the table to 15 points before Chelsea face Arsenal.

He remains pivotal to Guardiola's hopes of winning an unprecedented quadruple - and teammate Sergio Aguero hailed his impact on his return.

“David has some problems and he is resolving them, we are supporting him,” said the Argentine.

“Despite only having a few training sessions because he has had to be with his family, he is playing very well.

“Physically he is doing well and he is a very important player for us.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola revealed Kevin de Bruyne insisted he wanted to start against Watford, despite fears he’d suffered a serious injury in the New Year’s Day clash with Crystal Palace.

The Belgian international was left in agony after a reckless challenge from Jason Puncheon in stoppage time at Selhurst Park.

But he declared himself fit shortly after and pushed Guardiola to include him against Watford, when he supplied two assists.

“Kevin, he told me he wanted to play,” said Guardiola. “He was in pain because it was a kick he received, but if he wants to play, I want him to play.

“Nothing will change my opinion about his quality, everyone knows about his quality.

“Kevin wanted to play. Everyone will try to follow his desire.”