From time to time, we see Benfica fans regretting the fact that Bernardo Silva left the club at such an early age.
The midfielder was 19-years-of-age and had only made three appearances for the Eagles when he was sold to Monaco in a €15m deal, and ended up moving to Manchester City a few years later.
There’s always been a rumour in Portugal saying manager Jorge Jesus wanted to use the player as a left-back, which would obviously have been the wrong decision due to how successful the midfielder has become.
Now, with Benfica involved in a new controversy as 19-year-old Tiago Dantas is moving to Bayern Munich, people are recalling how wrong it was to let Bernardo Silva leave.
However, Octavio Machado, who’s friends with Jorge Jesus, goes against all these theories. He claims these players left the Eagles for money, and it was never the manager’s fault. He also claims that the Manchester City star should go public with the truth.
“He should admit that he asked to leave like Florentino and Tiago Dantas,” said Octavio Machado (via Bancada).
“And I have the greatest respect for the player. Now, I have more respect for the truth.
“The real story is not this [of Bernardo Silva being placed as a left-back]. While Florentino and Tiago Dantas admit that they asked to leave because they were going to earn more money, Bernardo Silva has not yet admitted it.
“He went to Monaco because he was going to get much more than he got at Benfica. Period.”
