Manchester City have no intention of allowing Bernardo Silva to leave the club before the January transfer deadline
Silva has been a key player for City for most of his time at the club, winning four Premier League titles, an FA Cup, four League Cups and a Champions League final since joining from Monaco for £43.5m in the summer of 2017.
But while the Portugal international is happy in a footballing sense, he has long been restless off the pitch. He first began to “feel” during the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and later asked to leave the club completely in the summer of 2021.
Pep Guardiola admitted last year that Silva ‘likes Barcelona a lot’ and would not stand in his way if the player wanted to leave, despite insisting he wanted to keep him. The club took a firmer stance.
Barcelona remain interested in Silva and have instead made him their top target for this year after the summer transfer window closes in 2022. Barcelona president Joan Laporta only recently ruled out spending €80m on Silva, despite coach Xavi saying: ‘I love him as a player’.
90min can report that Barcelona have reviewed Silva’s situation and stopped short of making any official approach, but City have said he will go nowhere in the hours left until this month.
