Man City’s Bernardo Silva set to spark tug of war between European giants

This summer could be a hugely important one for Man City and Bernardo Silva.

The tricky Portuguese has won all there is to win during his time at the Etihad Stadium, and at 29 years of age, may feel that it’s time for a new experience.

CaughtOffside columnist, Fabrizio Romano, recently revealed on his official Instagram account that Barcelona’s Joao Felix believed he’d convinced his countryman to join the club.

According to Sport, however, though the player has been named as Xavi’s priority signing for this summer, Bayern Munich are waiting in the wings and ready to offer Silva a very attractive financial package.

Tug of war for Bernardo Silva

There are reasons why either project might appeal too.

From a Barcelona perspective, they play in much the same way as Man City and therefore Silva could slot straight in.

Settling in should be fairly straightforward too, as long as the Catalan giants retain the services of Felix and another Portuguese talent, Joao Cancelo.

Bayern might find themselves hamstrung by their managerial issues too.

This week, Ralf Rangnick became the third person to turn the Bavarians down after Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann.

It’s unclear if there’s a common thread as to why all three decided they’d be better off staying where they were, but the fact remains that the club need to get a contract agreed with a new manager soonest.

Only then will Silva be able to understand what sort of project Bayern can offer him in a sporting sense, and that’s likely to inform his final decision.

Man City have slapped an achievable €58m release clause on his head, so it’s clear that they understand that their player wants to move on.

Equally, Pep Guardiola is sure to be more than happy to keep the player if he’s unable to negotiate a move elsewhere.