It wasn’t the way David Silva would have imagined ending his decade of service for Manchester City after 11 major trophies (and counting) and a magisterial reign over the Etihad.
If Silva's final contribution in a City shirt is a scrappy 1-0 win FA Cup fifth-round win at Sheffield Wednesday, a 423rd and final appearance for the Blues, it will be a travesty.
While Vincent Kompany went out in the grandest way possible, hoisting the Premier League and FA Cup on back-to-back weekends and saying goodbye to Manchester on a gloriously sunny day in the city centre, then Silva's unexpected farewell would be the opposite, even if the low-key nature of the goodbye might suit the unassuming Spaniard.