Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva ‘has asked’ the club ‘to let him leave’ this summer as he eyes a move to La Liga with Barcelona or Real Madrid.
That’s according to Sport, who says the player ‘will listen’ to offers from Barcelona and Madrid should they arrive for him.
They explain that the Portuguese star did not listen to any offers that arrived for him in the January transfer window and had no intention of leaving in that market anyway.
He ‘wants to leave’ Manchester City by agreement in the summer and Barcelona, who are long term admirers, are aware of this. At the moment, though, his signing is considered ‘almost unfeasible’.
Either way, Silva will be one of the big names of the summer transfer window after already taking the decision to leave Manchester City.
His ‘determination is clear’ and he has made this clear to City, hoping to depart on an ‘agreement basis’ rather than forcing any exit.
He already spoke to the club last summer about a move if a good enough offer came in but Manchester City valued him at €80m and that proved prohibitive.
Barcelona had him as an option thanks to his agent Jorge Mendes putting his name on the table but they prioritised the signing of Raphinha instead. That left Silva waiting on a potential departure for Frenkie de Jong, which did not happen.
He wants to reignite the option again this summer and his agent has ‘reported his situation’ to Barcelona and Real Madrid in the hopes of raising their interest.
He is not considered a priority by the latter at present but there is a belief an ‘extensive reshuffle’ may be on the cards and that could open the door to a move.
Silva also has interest from PSG but he is only interested in playing in Spain at present and would only consider the Parisians once a move to La Liga has been completely ruled out.