Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva was linked with a move away from Man City in the summer transfer window.
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has revealed that he will speak to the club about his future at the end of the season, admitting he is prepared to leave the club if the right offer arrives.
The Portuguese ace was linked with a move to Spanish giants Barcelona in the summer transfer window, but City were adamant that the 28-year-old was not leaving the Etihad.
Bernardo, who is under contract with the Blues until 2025, has made 275 appearances for the club since arriving from Monaco in 2017 – registering 50 goals and 56 assists. However, he has now hinted that a move away from City could be on the cards as he looks ahead to a ‘new project’.
In a candid interview with Record, the midfielder insisted that he was focused on performing for the Blues, but admitted that he could be open to a new challenge elsewhere.
“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.”
Bernardo also claimed that he is keen to return to Benfica at some point in the future – suggesting that next summer will be crucial in determining the next stage in his career.
He added: “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.”
SOURCE: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
