“I thought he might go” – Ruben Dias opens up on Bernardo Silva’s Manchester City future

Ruben Dias has offered an honest insight into just how close Bernardo Silva came to a Manchester City exit last season, and over the last few seasons.

The latter of the Portuguese pairing has been leaning towards an exit from the Etihad Stadium for a number of years, with those close to the player crediting a desire for more familiar cultures and better weather.

That eye towards a Manchester City exit has seen Bernardo Silva attract attention from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona most recently, while there has been very tenuous talk of SL Benfica emerging for their former starlet.

With the 29-year-old’s preferred destination being the Catalan club, any such move to La Liga has been faltered by Barcelona’s lack of available finances to bring a serious offer to Manchester City’s table, and as such the Premier League club renewed his contract last summer.

Speaking during a new interview with The National this week, Ruben Dias has admitted that Bernardo Silva’s desires to leave Manchester City are nothing new, but gives him the feeling of a reoccurring ‘series’ at the club ending in the favour of the Etihad side.

“At a certain moment last summer I thought he might go but I always tell him that every summer we have this series which is called ‘Bernardo is going nowhere’,” Ruben Dias told The National.

“This is the third summer since I have been here and there is a new episode every year. I was really happy when he signed because if you want to win trophies Bernardo is exactly the kind of player you need around you.”

He continued by speaking highly of Bernardo Silva’s contributions and talents, “It’s unfair for me to say how good he is because I am his fellow Portuguese and we have a special connection. But that aside he is a key player for us because, first of all, how intelligent he is.

“Due to his personality and the fact that he is so funny people might think one thing or another about him but when times get rough he is always there. You can count on him. He has great qualities. He can play in so many different positions. He can remedy so many problems a team might have.”

Ruben Dias told The National of Bernardo Silva, “He is a big personality in the dressing room. He has been a big footballer for a very long time. Sometimes people forget about that. The players know but maybe he is a little underrated.

“He’s not too dissimilar to Ilkay Gundogan when he was here. Other players may get a lot of headlines but Bernardo is always there. The players with the assists and the goals will always get the biggest praise. That’s the way it works. But when you analyse why we have been winning so much over the past few years Bernardo’s name will be there.”

For now, Bernardo Silva’s attentions will remain very much on delivering his best performances to Manchester City, and pushing the club in the direction of an unprecedented ‘double treble’ following their heroics last season.

City face a run of mammoth Premier League fixtures across the coming months, while an FA Cup fifth round tie at Luton Town awaits with the two clubs going head-to-head for a place in the quarter-finals.

Over in the UEFA Champions League, it was Bernardo Silva that contributed to Manchester City’s scoring against Copenhagen, as the current holders of the tournament left Denmark with a 1-3 advantage heading into next month’s second-leg.