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Why Pep Guardiola could keep 27 y/o Man City man despite exit talk [Opinion]

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Bernardo Silva has an uncertain future at Manchester City as he’s been linked with a move to Barcelona and is reportedly keen to make the switch, but he might end up staying as he’s too expensive for the Catalans and has three years left on his contract.

Pep Guardiola is desperate to keep the 27-year-old as he’s one of the best midfielders in Europe, so AS (h/t Sport Witness) say City have slapped a lofty £80m asking price on his head to ward off other clubs.

Barcelona are in financial difficulty after years of overspending on players. Their three most-expensive signings came in the last five years (£126m on Ousmane Dembele, £121m on Philippe Coutinho, £108m on Antoine Griezmann), so they can’t afford Silva.

And while Guardiola claims not to stand in a player’s way if they want to leave Man City, he wouldn’t grant Silva a departure last summer. Guardiola convinced the Portuguese international to stay and Silva was outstanding this season – 50 games, 13 goals, 7 assists.

So if he can perform at the top level and not have his head turned, City have no motivation to let him go. Silva’s deal doesn’t expire until 2025 either, so the Premier League defending champions aren’t at risk of losing him. So long as he remains happy in Manchester, he’s staying. Silva would be a difficult player to replace.

In other news, Andy Townsend says ‘incredible talent’ Riyad Mahrez should leave Man City over Raheem Sterling

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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.