Manchester City shut the door in the wake of Paris Saint-Germain's £60m offer for Bernardo Silva

Silva has been one of the unsung heroes at the Etihad Stadium since his arrival in 2017 and has been the subject of interest from both PSG and Barcelona this summer

Posted Thursday, August 25, 2022 by 101 GREAT GOALS

Manchester City and Portuguese international star Bernardo Silva may have a tough decision ahead of him in the last few days of the summer transfer window after French giants Paris Saint-Germain have submitted a formal bid for the 28-year-old.

According to an update from Get French Football News, tomorrow’s edition of L’Équipe will feature reports that PSG has tabled a €70m (£60m) bid for the Porto native and former SL Benfica academy graduate with just one week left in the summer transfer window.

The bid from the Ligue 1 headliners comes in the wake of credible interest from Barcelona after the Catalonians eyed Silva as a possible key summer target during their rebuild under Xavi, but the Spanish giants are likely to back away from any possible move after the likes of Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong have not been moved on to free up room to acquire the City midfield general.

PSG would in theory have a free shot at Silva with Christoph Galtier’s men already purring this season after the vaunted front-three of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, and Lionel Messi have obliterated the opening phases of the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season while helping the Parisians to 17 goals across three fixtures while Neymar and Mbappé sit one and two in the goal-scoring charts respectively.

The addictive quality that Silva would bring to the midfield at the Parc des Princes would certainly turn them into serious challengers for the Champions League.

But Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has ruthlessly shut down the club’s advances for one of Pep Guardiola’s prized possessions at the Etihad after transfer insider Fabrizio Romano quoted Soriano’s hard-line on the future of the Portuguese star.

Despite the existence of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, Silva is one of the integral pieces of the City juggernaut under Guardiola and has been one of the leading lights in four Premier League winning seasons since 2017-18 while helping the club to the final of the Champions League in 2020-21.

Silva was also the club’s player of the year in 2018-19 while also winning the club’s goal of the season nomination last term as well as twice being included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season in 2018-19 and 2021-22.

With three years left on his current deal with the English champions, it is likely that the club will continue to place him in the same tier as De Bruyne, Foden, and now Erling Haaland; untouchable.