Manchester City are ready to stand firm over Bernardo Silva's desire to leave and have told the Portuguese international they don't intend to sell him this summer, 90min understands.
Silva informed City last summer that he wanted to play elsewhere as he courted interest from Barcelon. But a deal did not materialise as the club told him to stay for at least another season.
The former Monaco starman did indeed stay and enjoyed another outstanding campaign for the Cityzens as they completed an historic Treble. However, Silva has again made it clear through his representatives that he would like the chance to move and has attracted considerable interest.
Silva has little interest in an offer on the table from Saudi Arabia to join Al-Hilal, despite the lucrative nature of the contract. However, there is also strong interest from long-term suitors Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, both of whom he is keen to talk to and explore a deal.
Barcelona would love to sign Silva and sources have confirmed to 90min that they already would have done by now if they had the money available. But while they remain interested, the chances of the Catalans being able to put together a deal acceptable to City appears remote at this stage.
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Then there is PSG. New head coach Luis Enrique has made it clear to his bosses that he wants Silva and the club's football advisor, Luis Campos, has already held talks with both Silva and City. They have informed their European champions they would be willing to meet their asking price, believed to be around £75m. But that still may not be enough to get a deal done.
The talks with City have not progressed and the English side have held their own conversations with Silva. The message they are making clear is that they can't afford to lose him this summer. Pep Guardiola rarely likes to keep any player who wants to leave and has a history of letting them go - Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and most recently Riyad Mahrez, to name examples.
But Silva's case is set to be different and Guardiola is adamant he does not want to see him move on, especially given the sale of Mahrez and the earlier loss of club captain Ilkay Gundogan. They have already brought in Mateo Kovavic from Chelsea, but the belief is that Silva is too hard to replace.
90min understands that City have looked around at other midfield options, with Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich and Inter's Nicolo Barella amongst those they have done work on. But neither looks to be available and it makes the need to keep Silva more pressing.
To try and smooth things over with Silva, sources have told 90min that City are prepared to offer him one of the biggest deals in their history and put him in the same bracket as the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne. Officials hope that sort of offer could demonstrate his importance to the club and persuade him to stay. Silva's current deal is due to run until 2025, which puts City in a strong position as they don't need to sell, but still want to reward him if he does stay.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Manchester City inform Bernardo Silva of transfer decision.
