Bernardo Silva waiting for Barcelona to make a move

The impending departures of Ousmane Dembélé and Franck Kessié has once again opened the doors for Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.

Xavi Hernandez has long been an admirer of the Portuguese midfielder and would prioritize his signing for Barcelona over another winger/attacker.

However, Manchester City is not going to simply give him away.

Given Barcelona’s financial limitations, the Catalan side is trying to work on different formulas to facilitate Silva’s arrival.

One avenue the club is exploring is trying to sign him on a loan with a mandatory option to buy. While City is unlikely to agree to such a deal, there is optimism a deal can be reached before the end of the window. So much so that Barcelona has already communicated to LaLiga on how Silva’s potential signing would fit into their wage structure.

All of this is moot, however, if City decide they don’t want to negotiate. If it comes down to that, then it would have to be Silva who informs the Premier League and European champions that he wants to leave.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Silva won’t do so until Barcelona make a move and open negotiations with City. At the moment, Barcelona have yet to do so and Silva won’t talk to Pep Guardiola and express his desire to leave until then.

Bernardo Silva has spent six years at Manchester City and has won plenty of silverware. Like Ilkay Gundogan, after finally winning the Champions League, he may feel it’s time for a new adventure. But it also appears he won’t leave just to leave.

While Silva would like to play in Spain, if that ultimately becomes impossible, the likelihood is he then signs an extension with City as Guardiola still counts on him.

Barcelona still expect other departures in addition to Dembélé’s and Kessié’s. They’re working on moving on Clement Lenglet and Sergiño Dest. If they manage to get at least €20-25 million combined, then a potential operation for Silva could become clearer.

With the season about to begin for both clubs, time is not on their side. Barcelona is going to do everything they can to sign him but there is plenty of work to be done.