Man City News

Pep Guardiola can’t sell Man City player despite ‘heart set on leaving’ claim [Opinion]

|

Bernardo Silva has been linked with a move away from Manchester City for the last two summer transfer windows and publicly pushed to join Barcelona months ago, but he vowed to give his all to City if a deal failed to materialise which is what ended up happening.

Kevin Campbell told Football Insider that the 28-year-old has his ‘heart set on leaving’ City and thinks Barcelona will be impossible for Silva to turn down. But Pep Guardiola has no desire to sell the Portuguese international and City have him tied down until 2025, so he’s likely to stay.

Silva has made 273 appearances in all competitions since joining City from AS Monaco in 2017, scoring 50 goals with 56 assists. The 28-year-old has made 14 Premier League appearances this season, scoring two goals with five assists, so he’s contributing a goal every other game on average.

Silva is 5th in the City squad for chances created per game on average (1.4), 2nd for assists (5), 3rd for successful dribbles (1.1), joint-3rd for tackles (1.6), 5th for goals (2) and 5th for successful crosses (0.4), so he’s an important player.

And with Ilkay Gundogan out of contract at the end of the season, Guardiola can’t afford to lose two midfielders from his first-team in the same transfer window.

In other news, who is the 20 y/o midfielder that Man City are scouting?

The Vital Network is unique from other football content providers as all the sites are run by the fans, for the fans. We are looking for a writer to join our Manchester City site. If you can write well-constructed, thought-provoking opinion pieces alongside reporting on current events and breaking news then I want to hear from you. Email paddy@snack-media.com.

Can you name these Man City players from the 2000s? Test your knowledge, take the quiz and challenge your friends and family to beat your score

1 of 10

He joined from Newcastle in 2000 and left to join FC Sochaux in 2003

Share this article

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.