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More tackles than Dias, more dribbles than Sterling – Guardiola can’t let Man City man go [Opinion]

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Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus all have uncertain futures at Manchester City and have been linked with a departure this summer, but it appeard they aren’t the only ones.

Pep Guardiola was recently asked by Reshad Rahman about Barcelona’s interest in Bernardo Silva and was forced into issuing a hands-off warning, saying: “They will have a difficult time.” The 27-year-old wanted out of City last summer but was convinced to stay, so Guardiola might be worried history is repeating itself.

Silva is a player City can’t afford to lose. He joined from AS Monaco in 2017 and has gone on to make 251 appearances in all competitions, scoring 48 goals with 51 assists. The Portuguese international, who has represented his country on 68 occassions with 30 goal contributions, is effective in midfield and attack, so he can operate in multiple roles over the course of a season.

Silva made 35 Premier League appearances this campaign, scoring eight goals with four assists, making more tackles (57) than Ruben Dias (26) and making more successful dribbles (53/92) than Raheem Sterling (53/112). He’s whipped in 58 crosses, taken 47 shots with 42.5% accuracy, drawn 33 fouls and completed 89.6% of his passes.

There aren’t many players who can stake a claim as one of the best central midfielders and forwards in their domestic league, so Silva is more than unique. The 27-year-old is Guardiola’s ideal player, so a transfer away can’t be sanctioned.

In other news, Man City accused over ‘overpaying’ for ‘bit-part player’ as 27 y/o braces for summer exit

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.

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  • anthony bentley says:

    He wanted to leave last summer due to covid travel restrictions. Thats finished with now and he’s extremely happy at the club.

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