Manchester City’s David Silva has announced his son is “fighting day by day” after being born prematurely.

Silva missed four of City’s five games before the Premier League win against Watford on Tuesday for what the club said were personal reasons.

The Spaniard posted a message on Twitter on Wednesday, which said: “I want to thank all of you for the love and good wishes received in the last few weeks, special thanks to my team-mates, 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 the full duration against Watford after missing the draw at Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve and the victory at Newcastle on 27 December.

Before that, the 31-year-old had also sat out a victory against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December and the Carabao Cup tie at Leicester three days later, before playing for the entirety of the win against Bournemouth on 23 December.

Following the Watford game, Pep Guardiola said Silva may have to miss more games because of his situation. “He’s free to stay or leave, it depends,” the Manchester City manager said. “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.”