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David Silva has laid out his intentions to leave Manchester City at the end of next season.

The 33-year-old has amassed 395 appearances since moving to the Etihad Stadium in 2010 but the 2019/20 campaign looks set to be his last for the club.

Silva has been one of the best-ever foreign imports, following in the footsteps of the likes of Eric Cantona, Gianfranco Zola and Cristiano Ronaldo in making their mark.

The Premier League has been graced by some of football's greatest ever players who have provided a wealth of unforgettable moments.

But who is the best-ever foreign import to play in the top flight? Our writers have their say:

Dennis Bergkamp - Matt Lawless

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Man City have had a few crackers over the years: David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Georgi Kindkladze... I even liked Kiki Musampa!

As a West Ham fan, I always loved Paolo Di Canio. He was a genius. A maverick. And a real box office player.

To pin it down to one player is such a tough task. But, at a push, I'd go with Dennis Bergkamp.

He was a game-changing signing when he arrived at Arsenal from Inter Milan back in 1995. And he was class personified.

You'd give absolutely anything just to watch a footballer like him play week-in, week-out in the Premier League.

Can you believe, he's now 50. Time flies, eh (although he doesn't).

Eric Cantona - Mike Walters

(Image: PA)

The Premier League's best foreign import? According to Little Englanders, there are about 20 million to choose from.

In this observer's experience, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry's contribution to Arsene Wenger's era at Arsenal take some beating.

At the start of the 1997-98 season, Bergkamp was probably the best player I've seen in the top flight, up there with John Barnes at Liverpool 10 years earlier.

But for impact, and changing the course of history, two stand out above the rest.

Gianfranco Zola brought magic and trophies to Chelsea , and then there was an enigmatic Frenchman with exotic gifts and a nifty line in poetic drivel about seagulls and trawlers...

Eric Cantona became the standard-bearer for Manchester United's return to prominence under Sir Alex Ferguson, and it is still a wonder how they managed to get him for £1.2 million from reigning champions Leeds.

So it's got to be King Eric - probably not the greatest player, but surely the greatest influence on a club's fortunes.

Yaya Toure - Simon Mullock

(Image: Getty)

I'd argue that Yaya Toure has been the biggest of big-game players this country has ever seen.

The man from the Ivory Coast was ridiculed by some journalists as an overpriced defensive midfielder when City paid Barcelona for him in 2010. But he was a player who had absolutely everything in his locker - and when his team needed him most he rarely failed to rise to the occasion.

For starters, Toure scored the winner in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester United which is now regarded as a breakthrough moment in City's recent history. He repeated the trick at the same end of Wembley in the final the following month as Roberto Mancini's side beat Stoke to win their first trophy in 35 years.

Twelve months later, Toure was at it again, with two goals in the penultimate game at highflying Newcastle to put City top of the table and set the scene for Sergio Aguero to win the Premier League title the following week in the most dramatic of circumstances. Toure was injured in the monumental 3-2 win over QPR - but still set-up Pablo Zabaleta's opening goal a few seconds before limping off.

(Image: X03805)

In 2014, City were a goal down against Sunderland and struggling badly in the League Cup final. That was the cue for Toure to conjure up one of Wembley's greatest goals as his team came back to win 3-1. That strike was one of 24 goals, the midfielder scored that season, as the Blues won the title for a second time by overhauling Liverpool. Toure's performance at Crystal Palace on the day Steven Gerrard slipped against Chelsea - scoring one brilliant goal and setting up another for Edin Dzeko - capped another magnificent performance.

And who can forget the sight of him rampaging 60 yards through Aston Villa's defence a few days later with a posse of chasing defenders hanging off him to score another wonderful goal a few days later?

The following season, Toure was back at Wembley to score the penalty winner against Liverpool in a League Cup final shoot-out.

Okay, he gave us Birthday Cake-gate and had an agent who could start a row in a telephone box.

But Yaya Toure was a giant of a man in every sense of the word - to the point where he even has one of the great terrace anthems of the Premier League era.

Thierry Henry - James Nursey

(Image: AFP)

What a signing he was as Arsene Wenger transformed the French winger into a striker with va-va-voom.

He was regularly unstoppable as he smashed 175 goals in 258 Premier League games for the Gunners, which included four golden boots.

His heroics included being the inspiration behind that unbeaten Invincible season in 2003-2004.

Henry could score from long-range or up close and helped make the Premier League a phenomenon that people wanted to see on TV all over the world during his spell in North London from 1999-2007.

Henry was so popular he also came back for a brief second stint in 2012 just to add to the love affair.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Darren Lewis

(Image: Getty Images)

There are too many to put one above any other but English football can count itself lucky to have had Cristiano Ronaldo as blossomed into becoming a footballing legend. He became the first Premier League World Player of the Year.

His consistency and explosive potency in front of goal marked him down as a giant of the game. Another mention must go to Dennis Bergkamp whose ice-cool ability to score goals and make goals made him one of my favourite imports to watch.

Thierry Henry - Neil McLeman

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Style, pace and goals - the Frenchman had everything.

And after arriving at Arsenal in 1999, he helped establish the Premier League as a truly international competition with worldwide interest.

Eric Cantona - Andy Dunn

(Image: PA)

I change my mind on this every other week. David Silva is one of several Manchester City claimants to the Premier League’s best-ever foreign signing title, along with Arsenal luminaries Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba are also worthy contenders.

But there had never been an import quite like Eric Cantona before and there has not been one since.

Cantona, you can safely assert, was a one-off, both as a player and as a character.

He got what Manchester United was all about, relishing his role as the club’s and the team’s talisman.

His statistics were not startling but his presence - during four Premier League title-winning campaigns - was.

If the new organisation needed someone to symbolise the rebranding of the format, it was Cantona.

A unique Premier League footballer, a unique character.