Barcelona have been trying to sign Bernardo Silva from Manchester City this summer but have been priced out of a deal after the Premier League champions requested €100m (£84m) for the 28-year-old.
Frank McAvennie doesn’t believe Pep Guardiola would sanction another departure of a talented first-team player anyway after losing three in one transfer window – Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th or lower
City sold Jesus to Arsenal and replaced him with Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. They sold Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal and replaced him with Sergio Gomez from RSC Anderlecht. And they’ve called upon Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer to fill Raheem Sterling’s shoes after his move to Chelsea, but McAvennie believes Silva is too hard to replace.
When asked if Guardiola would let the Portuguese international leave, he told Football Insider: “I don’t think so. They’ve just let two players go to Arsenal so I wouldn’t think they’ll be wanting to let any more go. I think he’s a damn good player as well. So I wouldn’t think they would want to let him leave.”
Silva has made 253 appearances in all competitions since joining City from AS Monaco in 2017, scoring 48 goals with 50 assists. He’d been dropped by Guardiola this season amid uncertainty over his future and was replaced by Ilkay Gundogan, but the City manager can’t afford to lose him permanently.
In other news, Man City exit hasn’t gone well for Ferran Torres