Josep Guardiola has admitted that Bernardo Silva could leave Manchester City, which would be a blow to the champions.
Guardiola doesn’t like to keep players who want to leave, but given how much Silva has played a key role in City’s recent success, the manager has admitted he prefers to keep the Portuguese who favors a move to Barcelona.
Guardiola said: “What happens, happens, and if he stays, that’s great, and in the end, if he has to leave, it’s because football is like that; the player has a desire. I will not be the person to stop people’s desire. When you’re a football player, it’s so small, you don’t understand, and it’s almost over. The player will have to talk to the club and I was never involved in that.
“Sometimes for the club, sometimes for the players, sometimes for the agent, sometimes we have to separate our paths. Moreover, the desire of the player is the most important thing. Of course, I would like Bernardo to continue here, he is a very special player for us. But I don’t know what will happen.”
Guardiola also said that City may need the remainder of the transfer window to sign the left-back after refusing to pay Brighton’s asking price for Mark Cucurella, who is willing to join Chelsea for £55m plus up to £7m in the form of allowances.
“We still have many days before the end of the month,” Guardiola said. “We’ll see. There are a lot of players around the world and many of them can fit perfectly into our team, but at the same time, transfers are always difficult.”