Bernardo Silva has £800k-a-week contract waiting if he quits Man City for Saudi Arabia

EXCLUSIVE: Manchester City desperately want to keep Bernardo Silva after losing Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona, but he has a ridiculously lucrative offer from the Far East on the table

Posted Sunday, July 02, 2023 by Dailystar.co.uk

Bernardo Silva would earn a fortune in Saudi Arabia

Bernardo Silva is being offered a massive £800,000-per-week salary to swap Manchester City for the Saudi Pro League.

The Saudis are searching for more marquee summer signings to boost their booming league - and the Portuguese ace is one of their latest top targets.

Silva, 28, still has two years left on his £150,000-a-week contract at the Etihad - and Pep Guardiola's Treble winners are desperate to keep hold of him.

They have already rejected a significant offer from French rivals Paris Saint-Germain after previously managing to see off Barcelona's long-term interest by pricing him beyond the means.

The Nou Camp was Silva's preferred destination but with his fee set at £60million, the hard-up Spaniards instead went for City team-mate and free agent, Ilkay Gundogan.

That has left Silva's future in limbo. He seems keen to add a new chapter to a glittering career - opening the door for the Saudis to launch their audacious swoop.

Bernardo Silva could move to Saudi Arabia at the age of 28

As with another City forward Riyad Mahrez - being tracked by Al Ittihad - the loaded Middle East nation are prepared to pay a bumper salary - on top of a £70m-plus transfer fee - to tempt the ex-Monaco man away.

The £41.6m annual package on the table for Silva, funded by the country's Public Investment Fund, would pocket the five-time Premier League winner more than five times the amount he does in Manchester.

Silva, despite his vital part in City's dominance, both domestically and in Europe last season, is not even among their leading ten earners - sitting level with barely-used fringe first-team players, such as Kalvin Phillips.

Manchester City don't want to lose their workhorse midfielder

Although the identity of the Saudi club chasing him is yet to be confirmed, it is thought to be Al Hilal.

Whether what amounts to a 400 per cent wage increase will be sufficient to persuade Silva, capped 83 times by Portugal, to demand a transfer from City this summer remains to be seen.

Should he depart, he will join the likes of N'Golo Kante, Ruben Neves and former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema In the Saudi Pro League - and initial superstar acquisition Cristiano Ronaldo.