Barcelona failed in their attempts to sign Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva this summer, but they will likely renew their efforts in the next transfer window.
Bernardo's future was the saga of City's summer transfer window, with neither the player or club ruling out his departure until the last week of the window. While Bernardo - who asked to leave City in both 2020 and 2021 - is understood to be happy in Manchester, he's open to moving to Spain after spending five years at the Etihad Stadium.
Barcelona made all the noises that they were poised to swoop for the Portuguese midfielder, but in the end no serious negotiations took place between the two clubs with Barcelona reportedly only making an offer very late on in the window.
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According to Spanish newspaper SPORT, the Catalan club will renew their efforts to sign Bernardo 'as soon as they have the chance' as he is the number one transfer target for head coach Xavi. Having seen their salary cap increased by £490m by La Liga, Barca could have the funds available to complete a move. Whether their approach comes in January or next summer remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, City could have a plan to play the long game with a talented youngster they sold last month. City sold 18-year-old holding midfielder Romeo Lavia to Southampton for £10.5m, but according to one pundit the Blues could decide to bring him back to the Etihad Stadium.
City had a buy-back clause inserted into the deal, meaning that they will be able to re-sign the young Belgian for an undisclosed fee.
"They might [bring him back], that’s why they put [the deal] in there," Alan Hutton told Football Insider. "They obviously see the potential the boy’s got. He wasn’t ready for the City team, but they see that he possibly could be in the years to come.
"They will just bide their time and see how he develops and if it’s right for City and the player then he’ll go back."
Chelsea reportedly tabled a £50m offer for Lavia just days after the youngster scored in Southampton's 2-1 defeat of the London side, but the bid was rejected.
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