Barcelona’s obsession with Bernardo Silva is an open secret in European football. The Catalan giants have been trying to sign the Manchester City playmaker for a while now and have even failed twice so far.
But they have refused to throw in the towel just yet. In fact, a recent report from Diario SPORT suggests there might be hope yet for Barcelona as they look to sign Bernardo Silva at the end of the season.
The report claims Silva is ready to leave Manchester City. He has been communicating with the club’s hierarchy for a while now, over a potential exit from Etihad. It appears the playmaker is looking for a new challenge abroad, with Barcelona his desired destination.
To that end, Man City have communicated with Silva’s agent, Jorge Mendes, that they would be prepared to offload the player if Barcelona are willing to table an offer of around €65 million.
This could be a splendid market opportunity for Barça, who were not able to sign the Portuguese international last summer due to his high valuation which reached over €80 million. The Blaugrana were looking to finance the deal through the sale of Frenkie de Jong, but the Dutchman ended up remaining at Old Trafford.
The report claims affording €65 million should not be a problem for Barcelona as they have the financial means to table such an offer. What will be tricky, though, is incorporating the playmaker into the club’s current salary mass.
Barça have already received orders from La Liga that they need to reduce €200 million from their salary mass if they are to avoid Financial Fair Play regulations.
Introducing Silva to this equation, therefore, could be tricky, especially given the fact that the Portuguese international is demanding a higher salary than the €7 million per season net salary he receives at Manchester City.
Silva is not the only Man City midfielder on the radar of Barça, though, with the Catalans reportedly in pole position to sign German international Ilkay Gundogan.
