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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

Former Man City assistant says Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are 'Barcelona players'

Bernardo Silva would suit Barcelona perfectly, as would his Manchester City teammate Ilkay Gundogan, according to former Blues assistant Domenec Torrent.

Bernardo has been the subject of intense transfer speculation this summer, with Barcelona making no secret of their desire to sign him, and the player himself admitting he doesn't know if he will still be at City past next week's transfer deadline.

It seems like time is running out for any exit, though, with City wanting to sign a replacement should he leave, and CEO Ferran Soriano this week said that 'of course' Bernardo is staying at City. However, that won't stop Catalan media pushing for a move, with Bernardo unsurprisingly coming up in an interview with former City and Barcelona assistant Torrent.

ALSO READ: Man City are about to discover if transfer risk was worth taking vs Barcelona

Speaking to Caden COPE , Torrent declared Bernardo a 'perfect' Barcelona player, along with new Blues captain Gundogan - who is out of contract at the Etihad next summer.

"Bernardo Silva has the perfect qualities to play for Barcelona," Torrent is quoted as saying.

"He can play between lines in a small space. Like Gündoğan, he is, in my opinion, a type of Barça player. These players can see where the space is and have the patience to receive the ball. This is what Xavi in the midfield wants.

"I think Xavi has clear ideas and an action plan with the players he wants. This raises high expectations. Fortunately, he now has a lot of options for making changes, that's important in a season with lots of matches. This will make sure that no one will relax, because in this team everyone will be able to play in the starting line-up. Competitors see that decisions are not made by chance. They think that they can play three games every week at a high level, but that is impossible."

Torrent was Guardiola's assistant for both Barcelona B and Barcelona, before following him to Bayern Munich and then to City where he stayed for the first two years of Guardiola's spell. He has since managed New York City, Flamengo and Galatasaray.

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