Bernardo Silva makes huge admission over Man City future
By Tom Gott
Bernardo Silva has confessed he will speak to Manchester City about his future at the end of the season, admitting he is prepared to leave the club if the right offer arrives.
Silva has long been tipped to leave City and has not been completely settled in Manchester for a good few seasons now, with a handful of La Liga sides previously exploring ways to lure the 28-year-old away from the Etihad.
Indeed, 90min understands that Barcelona, who tried to sign Silva last summer, remain determined to land the Portugal international's signature in 2023, assuming they can raise the money to fund a move.
In a candid interview with Record, Silva did not hide his interest in leaving City, suggesting this season could be his last in England.
“I’m very focused on this season and it doesn’t make sense to talk about leaving because we’re in the middle of the season," he said.
"I’ve been at Manchester City for almost six years, I have a lot of respect for the club, news keeps coming out and people know that there have been talks between me and the club and, at the end of the season, we’ll talk again to see what’s best for the two sides.
"I’m focused on winning more titles for City. We want to win the league again, we have a competition that we have never won and that is a great objective, which is the Champions League, so we want to try again.”
Silva continued: "I’m 28 years old, I’ll be 29 in the summer, and I have two more years on my Manchester City contract. My contract would end at 31. I won’t hide that my goal in the coming years, if something good happens elsewhere, will probably be to move to a new project.
"Going into a new project at the age of 29, I’ll only finish this contract probably at 34. If you ask me: what did you think 10 years ago? My goal was to return to Benfica at the age of 32 at the most. What do I think today? It depends on what happens next summer.
“I’m not going to lie: it’s not something I don’t think about. I think about it every year. It has always been a goal. I couldn’t fulfil my dream of playing for Benfica when I was 19, 20 years old, but I still want to fulfil it. It’s something I think about.
"When I was about to leave Manchester City two years ago, that would go right, at 32. Now it won’t go right. If I leave, and I don’t know if that will happen, a club that pays what City want for me won’t give me a three-year contract, they will give me a five-year contract. And I'd already be 34 years old.
"Being very realistic: for Bernardo to leave Manchester City for Benfica, or to leave another great European for Benfica, I cannot leave with two or three years on his contract, because Benfica do not have the money to pay these clubs; I have to go free. I’m in a difficult situation that I have to manage, but we’ll see what happens.”
Barcelona manager Xavi is known to be a huge fan of Silva and wanted the Portugal international to be signed last summer, but the cash-trapped Blaugrana could not find the money to secure his signature.
Pep Guardiola has always insisted that he would be prepared to let Silva, or any unsettled player, leave City, but only if the right offer arrived.