Football
Exclusive: Manchester City Push to Secure Bernardo Silva on New Deal Amid Barcelona and Bayern Interest
Man City is working on extending Bernardo Silva's contract as it nears its expiry. Several clubs are interested in the 31-year-old midfielder, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Silva has been a key player for City, winning multiple titles under Guardiola, who wants to keep him for a few more years. Silva hints at knowing his future plans but remains focused on the club's success.
Arsenal v Manchester City - Premier League by Alex Pantling | Getty Images
Manchester City are working hard behind the scenes to tie playmaker and captain Bernardo Silva to a new deal, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
As SportsBoom revealed last week, City are currently in talks with long-serving defender John Stones about extending his Ethiad stay.
And now the Citizens hope to tie Portugal midfielder Silva to a new deal before clubs come sniffing for his signature when the January transfer window opens in just short of three months’ time.
Spanish giants Barcelona have been linked with a move for Silva, whose deal expires next summer.
And a number of other top clubs, including Bayern Munich, Benfica and Juventus, are also rumoured to be interested in trying to sign the 31-year-old midfielder.
The 103-cap international is now playing his ninth season for City having joined them from Monaco in May 2017 on an initial five-year deal.
That contract has subsequently been extended with Silva having quickly established himself as one of City’s best players, winning six Premier League titles so far at the club.
MULTIPLE WINNER
Silva has also twice won the FA Cup, the EFL Cup three times and famously won the Champions League under legendary boss Pep Guardiola in the 2022-23 season.
Guardiola is understood to be hungry to keep Silva, at least for a couple more years, especially having let fellow star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne leave in the summer following a long affiliation with the club.
Silva recently said it was a “big honour and responsibility” to captain the club and hinted that he already knew what his future had in store.
"I know exactly what I'm going to do but it's not the time to focus on it," he said.
"It's to do my best, to put the club back to where it belongs. We've had a lot of captains who've left, but it's for the guys who have the most experience to pass it on to the young guys."
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.