Guardiola delivered speech to his Man City squad about David Silva and his ill son| All Football

Pep Guardiola challenged his Manchester City players to beat Tottenham for David Silva as the midfielder ‘f****** suffered’ with the premature birth of his son.

Silva missed much of last season’s festive period after being granted compassionate leave to return to Spain to be with Mateo, who required special medical attention.

And in new Amazon Prime documentary, Manchester City: All or Nothing, Guardiola’s impassioned speech about Silva’s situation is revealed in full.

Shortly before kick-off at the Etihad, the former Barcelona boss pumps up his squad by telling them to go out and beat Spurs for their team-mate and his family.

‘Today you have to win for one reason,’ Guardiola says as Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Co watch him intently.

‘We have to win for David Silva and his girlfriend Jessica.

‘He’s f****** suffering in the life. When you go out there and you enjoy it, you enjoy it for him.

‘If we go out there and we suffer, suffer for him. You know the situation.

‘Today you want to win for David Silva and his girlfriend and his family. Is that clear?’

City’s players respond with a shout of ‘yes’ before taking to the pitch and dismantling Mauricio Pochettino’s men 4-1 for their 16th consecutive Premier League win.

De Bruyne, who scored his side’s second goal in the 70th minute, celebrated by making a ’21’ gesture with his hands in a reference to Silva’s squad number.

The Spaniard returned to play 90 minutes in the following week’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth, but then missed five of City’s next eight game as they stormed towards the title.

Silva described the period as ‘the worst moment of my life’, but has since revealed that Mateo is ‘getting stronger and stronger’.