Manchester City are bracing themselves for the loss of one of their biggest players.
The Treble winners saw midfield talisman Ilkay Gundogan depart last summer along with Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte, with the club refusing to offer Gundogan a longer-term deal. Kevin De Bruyne, another senior member in the side, has now been linked with an exit for similar reasons, too.
But with one key player in the Manchester City side, offering terms are not a problem – and the player himself would actually take a wage cut to leave Eastlands.
That's according, at least, to Sport journalist, Ferran Correas, via Reshad Rahman, who says that Bernardo Silva wants to quit City for Barcelona.
This has been a big story in Catalonia for a year now, with Spanish outlet Diario Sport claiming last summer that Silva was “desperate” for the transfer before Italian journalist, Fabrizio Romano posted on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed that the Portuguese schemer has a release clause worth £50 million.
Such a clause is said to have been inserted to attract Barça specifically, with the 29-year-old apparently so keen for the deal to happen that he's willing to drop his salary.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, it'll be Barça or no one for Silva – but the sticking point will still be the price. With the Blaugrana cash-strapped, even a £50m fee could prove to be too expensive, with a loan deal similar to that of Joao Cancelo more appealing to president Joan Laporta.
Silva is worth €80m according to Transfermarkt.
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