Mikael Silvestre began his career with the French club Rennes, and in the 1997/98 season was signed by Internazionale Milan. He made 18 league appearances for Inter, as well as 6 European Cup games. He was often praised by pundits as the most technically gifted young defender at that time. Silvestre is adept as both a centre-back and a left full-back, though he has stated that he prefers playing in the centre. Silvestre's most positive attribute is his pace, and he often sets up scoring opportunities. He is also noted for his crossing and tackling abilities. Manchester United then signed him on September 10, 1999 for £4 million.
Silvestre made his debut for Manchester United against Liverpool at Anfield in 1999. In the 2001/2002 season Silvestre had established himself in the United defence ahead of the veteran Denis Irwin, and was proving to be adept both in defence and getting forward. He set up numerous goals for star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, notably away to Deportivo in a 2-0 towards the end of the season. There was criticism put his way after the Bayern Munich game where he was largely blamed for the late equaliser in the 1-1 draw, but this typified United's season as a whole, and he was one of their better performers.
During the next season, his most recent championship winning year he carried on initially where he left off, but following injury to Rio Ferdinand and the poor performance of an ageing Laurent Blanc, he was switched to his favoured position of central defence. Here he forged a successful partnership mid-season with Wes Brown at the heart of the defence until Rio's return, looking calm and assured, using his pace to good effect, whilst continuing to provide goals with his accurate diagonal balls.
He continued in this role the following season where he and Rio Ferdinand excelled as a pair and after half a season where being touted as the best central defensive pairing the club had seen since Bruce and Pallister. However, this was cut short following Rio Ferdinand's eight month ban for missing a drug test. In the latter half of this season when being paired with an unfit Wes Brown, United's defence proved to be rather less secure and both Brown and Silvestre were at fault for numerous goals and despite winning the FA Cup with a 3-0 victory over Millwall, this uncertainty at the heart of the defence was to continue into the start of the 2004-05 season.
Now, following the partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Ferdinand flourishing at the heart of the defence, and Patrice Evra's excellence at left-back, Silvestre's place in the squad would appear to be less than secure. However at the end of last season he showed some fine form, particularly in the 2-0 victory over Arsenal and back at the left of United's defence. He admits that he was given the option to leave during the January transfer window during 2006, with an opportunity to join former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier at Lyon. However to his credit remained at the club and has since proven himself to be a useful member of the team.
He started the 2006-07 in typical style against Watford, scoring a classy goal, his first away goal for United, to give United the lead, and then 15 minutes later making a defensive error to aid their equaliser. He was starting to reassert himself in the left-back role when unfortunately he broke a metatarsal in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. After recovering and playing several games, he dislocated his shoulder in a Champions League win against Lille OSC, meaning he was unable to play for the rest of the season.
On Friday August 11, 2006 his loyalty to the club was rewarded with a new contract extending his stay at the club until at least 2009. Sir Alex Ferguson commented that: "Mikael has been an important member of the squad for seven years now. His experience at the Club will help the younger players as they develop and he has a central role to play in the first team."
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