Bernardo Silva Tells Manchester City He Wants To Join FC Barcelona

Bernardo Silva has told Manchester City about his interest in leaving the club and joining FC Barcelona.

With Frenkie de Jong possibly departing the Blaugrana this summer too, and heading to the red side of Manchester at City’s rivals United, Portugal international Silva is first team coach Xavi Hernandez’s top transfer target in midfield.

According to Mundo Deportivo on Friday, Silva has already spoken to his club, who he is in constant contact with, as per a potential exit.

The 27-year-old has a contract at the Etihad that runs until 2025, but he would welcome a move out of England where he has lived for half a decade after joining from Monaco in 2017 via hometown Lisbon club Benfica.

Silva is already aware of Barca’s interest in him through his agent Jorge Mendes and they have given the green light to City to negotiate a deal if Barca put an offer on the table.

There are currently no bad feelings between City and Silva, and the cordial manner in which Ferran Torres was allowed to leave the PremierPINC
League champions for Barca at the turn of the year came as part of a common transfer policy in not standing in players’ ways if they express a desire to leave.

Coincidentally, Silva’s asking price is exactly what Barca want for De Jong from United or any other interested party: €80mn fixed and up front plus another €20mn in variables.

United began dragging their feet when quoted this price for De Jong and are insistent on paying €80mn including add-ons while threatening to end talks over the 25-year-old altogether.

Yet City’s previous interest in De Jong, especially when Barca signed him from Ajax for €75mn in 2019 while also staving off competition from Paris Saint Germain, makes a part-exchange deal possible.

That being said, a coup for Silva is only possible if De Jong leaves, irrespective of where the Netherlands playmaker ends up.

Yet one other attractive point for the debt-ridden Catalans is that Silva currently earns much less than what De Jong does at Camp Nou, which would free up money for other possible arrivals such as Robert Lewandowski.