Bernardo Silva has announced that he is staying at Manchester City, ruling out a deadline day switch to Barcelona or PSG in the process.
Although happy from a football perspective, Bernardo has been eyeing a City exit for most of the last two years after struggling off the pitch during the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
Barcelona had been looking to sign him this summer, with Pep Guardiola recently conceding that he wouldn’t stand in the player’s way if a move was arranged and he wanted to take it.
But there were always doubts over whether the sorry state of finances at Camp Nou would allow it, having activated multiple economic ‘levers’ just to register the signings they had already made, selling off significant club assets to raise the required funds.
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There has also been reported interest from PSG, who are one of the few teams who could comfortably afford to sign the Portugal international, but no formal offers have arrived and Bernardo has now confirmed he will not be leaving the Etihad Stadium.
“I’m going to stay at Manchester City,” he told RAC1. “I haven't received any offers. I'm staying in Manchester. I'm happy here and the decision has been made.”
Since a slow first season at City following his 2017 arrival from Monaco, Bernardo has been a key player for most of the last four years. He has won four Premier League titles overall and has returned to the team in recent weeks after initially starting the season on the bench.
In three consecutive starts, the Portuguese maestro has two goals and two assists to his name, indicating that he still has an important role to play at City.
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Source : 90min