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The man they call Merlin at Manchester City left West Ham bewitched at Upton Park.

And as Manchester rivals United continue shedding points, Reds fans will rue the club’s inability to land an attacking midfield magician of the calibre of David Silva.

Sergio Aguero may have given Manuel Pellegrini’s men their cutting edge with some ruthless finishing but it was Silva who pulled the strings magnificently behind him.

So it was fitting that the ex-Valencia playmaker sealed City’s first away win of the season with his late strike.

And while Chelsea have Eden Hazard, Arsenal fans are purring over Mesut Ozil and Spurs are excited at the arrival of Christian Eriksen, West Ham’s Mark Noble reckons Silva tops the lot.

“At the minute he is probably better.” said the Hammers midfielder, “He’s got that ­experience. He has won things with Spain. He has won championships here.

“He has won cups here and he is like that week in, week out. He is one of the best players on the pitch every time he goes out there. That’s what Spain seem to be bringing through these days. Every player that comes over or every player that you see on the telly is a top, top player.

“That’s why they have been winning everything over the last few years.”

City have spent a staggering £601million since Micah ­Richards signed his first ­professional contract at the club in 2005.

The likes of Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli have all lit up the top flight with their stellar performances for the Citizens.

But Richards agrees that Silva should be at the top of the tree. He said of the Spaniard’s display: “It was ridiculous. We call him Merlin.

“He’s like a little wizard, isn’t he? He is class. He is probably the best player I have played with. He just makes it look easy, the way he goes past people. He is just amazing.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Asked how he manages to deal with the 27-year-old schemer in training, Richards laughed: “I don’t give him any room – I just smash him! He doesn’t come near me!

“We have an agreement – you don’t come near me, I won’t hurt you. You know what I mean? That is the only way you can stop him.”

City sliced through the centre of the West Ham defence for their first with Alvaro Negredo leaving Fernandinho’s pass for Aguero to calmly shoot home.

Aguero made it 2-0 with a bullet header from David Silva’s free-kick, only for Ricardo Vaz Te to reply with ?an ­acrobatic strike to set up a tense climax.

Silva found the top corner to seal City’s victory.

It is quite something, when you consider City’s strength in depth, that they have had to wait until their fourth away game for their first three points on the road.

A shock defeat to Cardiff was followed by a draw at Stoke and then another huge upset at Aston Villa.

Richards admitted afterwards that the false starts had been nagging away at the team.

He went on: “If you look at the games, especially against Villa, we played really well, we just had a lapse in ­concentration at the end and that cost us.

“But today we have had no such problems. When they pulled one back, we stayed strong and closed it out at the end.

“I thought the front five were outstanding and Silva and Aguero were breathtaking.”