Pep Guardiola hints at Manchester City superstar leaving the club

Pep Guardiola claims Bernardo Silva is happy at Manchester City but has hinted the twinkle-toed playmaker could decide to leave the club in the future.

Bernardo Silva, 27, wanted to leave Manchester City during the summer transfer window after the big-money signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. LaLiga duo Barcelona and Atletico Madrid had shown interest in signing the Portuguese international but no concrete offers came from either club.

Now into his fifth season at the Etihad Stadium, the 27-year-old midfielder is back playing to his best levels and impacting games for Pep Guardiola’s side like he did a couple of years ago. Silva has started five of the Cityzens’ six Premier League games so far, scoring the winner against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium and excelling in a deeper midfield role in Saturday’s 1-0 success over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

While the Portuguese international is starting games, creating opportunities for his teammates, scoring goals and most importantly, playing with a smile on his face, Guardiola reveals the player may push for a move away from the club.

"“All I want is for Bernardo to be happy, here or anywhere. All I want is his happiness because he’s a guy that deserves the best, Pep Guardiola claimed.“He’s so intuitive – it’s not his role as a holding midfielder but he knows exactly how to play it and how to anticipate what is going to happen, with the ball or without the ball.“Against Norwich he played exceptional, against Arsenal he played exceptional, Southampton played at the level of the team – that was not good.“But how well he played against Chelsea is no surprise. How many times have we seen it? He was an incredible signing for us because he’s an exceptional person.”"

Bernardo Silva’s time at Manchester City so far has been very successful. He has netted 36 goals and supplied 44 assists in 208 appearances since arriving from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017, lifting three Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and one FA Cup in the process.

"“I never forget the second Premier League we won, with 98 points, he was the best player in England. He was nominated [for an award] but he was the best,” the City boss added.“After that season, later he dropped a little bit, he was not in the position he prefers but now he’s back and hopefully he can help us.“If, at the end, he wants to leave and decides [to go] the only thing I can say is that the guy or the club that gets Bernardo is going to take one of the best players in the world.“Is he happier? You cannot play in this way if you are not happy, it’s impossible.”"

Source: Sky Sports

In the injury absence of Kevin de Bruyne, Silva has combined very well with the likes of Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and Ferran Torres in the final third and helped City register wins over Norwich City, Arsenal, Leicester City, RB Leipzig and Chelsea.

It is great to watch the 27-year-old enjoy his football again and get back to the consistency levels which was missing for the last 12-15 months. Even if the Portuguese international decides to leave Manchester City in the future, it would be safe to say then he’d given his all for the club.