Pep Guardiola. admitted that Bernardo Silva loves Barcelona as he and counterpart Xavi responded to questions about a transfer for the Manchester City star.
Barcelona hosted City in a charity match to support former goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzue as he tries to raise awareness of ALS, with over 91,000 turning out to watch the 3-3 draw. But a joint press conference held by the managers afterwards either side of Unzue did not pass without another question about Bernardo Silva.
Reports from France on Wednesday night suggested that Paris Saint-Germain had had a bid turned down for the Portugal international, who has refused to publicly commit his future to City this summer. City CEO Ferran Soriano was asked again about the situation after the match and said there was nothing in it before an update was asked for of the managers.
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Xavi answered similarly when asked in the press conference, expressing his love for Bernardo but insisting that there was no update. However, Guardiola went further when asked another question about the player by saying that while City would need a replacement he does not want unhappy players and will not tell Barcelona to back down.
"I am no one to tell Bernardo to forget about anything. Bernardo is our player and we want him with us because he is super important," he said. "Having said that, as I’ve always said to my players, I don’t want anyone unhappy.
"If you ask me if I want Bernardo Silva, there is no doubt about that. He’s a superlative player on everything. The bigger the game, the better he plays.
"We want him. The club wants him. If at the end there’s an offer, that until now there’s been zero offers in the last two years, and both clubs reach an agreement we would see. But as Ferran Soriano said: we have seven or eight days of the transfer window left and if a player like Bernardo leaves, we must go to the market.
"And right now, that’s not easy. Having said all that, Bernardo loves Barcelona."
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