Pep Guardiola is against the desire of Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez, coach of Barcelona, as the coach is sweating in order to obtain the signature of Portuguese Bernardo Silva, in the current summer transfers.
Silva’s name was recently linked to a move to Barcelona this summer, before the Camp Nou management succeeded in signing Polish striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, and before him, Brazilian Rafinha from Leeds United.
The Barcelona coach had confirmed earlier that the average field of the Manchester City team is among his main goals during Mercato this summer, to replace Dutchman Frenkie de Jong, who came close to leaving Barca towards Manchester United.
The Portuguese international joined the ranks of the heavenly team in 2017, coming from the French club Monaco, in a deal whose marketing value at the time was estimated at about 43 million pounds.
And Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano stated, this evening, that Manchester City does not want to sell Silva’s contract, which is strongly required by Xavi, stating that all things ultimately depend on the departure of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.
City insists on keeping Bernardo in the team to the extent that the English club rejected a tempting offer from Paris Saint-Germain to conclude a reciprocal deal in which Neymar will join the Etihad Stadium, and Bernardo will leave on the opposite side of the capital of light.
Reports indicated that Pep Guardiola confirmed that Silva is not for sale this summer, as he is considered a key player in his plan for next season, although he had previously hinted that he would not let Bernardo leave for a small amount.
Manchester’s intransigence in negotiations with Barca, despite the fact that Bernardo was enthusiastic about the idea of coming to the Blaugrana and taking on the colors of the team under the command of Xavi in the new football project in the club.
The Spanish newspaper Sport went further by confirming that Bernardo was ready to reduce his annual salary to facilitate the process of his departure to Barcelona, but the deal would cost the Catalan club at least 80 million euros this summer.
And the newspaper said, Guardiola will not stand against the player’s desire to leave, especially as he previously stated, “Our goal as a club is to stay, although we have always said that we do not want to have unhappy players in the team.”
This means that the idea that the Spanish coach issues regarding his position on the departure of a mid-field star is nothing but an attempt from him to earn more money to settle other alternative deals.
Silva participated in 35 matches in Manchester City’s crowning campaign in the English Premier League last season, where he scored 8 goals and assisted 4, to be selected in the team of the season.