Bernardo Silva sent Oleksandr Zinchenko a brutal text during summer over Manchester City and Arsenal’s Premier League battle

Manchester City’s direct confrontation with Arsenal for another Premier League title has spilled over into text messages between players of both sides.

The two teams played out a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last month in the latest chapter an ever-growing rivalry between the two sides that has seen Manchester City come out on top twice when it comes to the Premier League title race.

City are currently on a run of four successive Premier League title wins under Pep Guardiola, and have claimed six of the last seven top-flight crowns, further emphasising their dominance across the league in recent times.

However, with that success comes the ultimate mentality of wanting to win more, and ensure that competitors and opponents are kept at arm’s length, both on and off the pitch – a mentality that is grasped by some players more than others.

Writing in his new book ‘Believe’, Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed a string of brutal text messages from Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva during a summer when both men were in southern France for their respective holidays.

“We need to learn from their consistency and their attitude, even on our holidays. In the off-season, I went to the south of France. I saw on Instagram that Bernardo Silva was there as well. I texted him, asking if he knew a pitch to do some exercises,” Zinchenko revealed.

He continued, “He wrote back saying, ‘for what, do you need a pitch?’ I replied, ‘I need to run’. He wrote back, ‘run? For what? You’re going to try to win the Premier League again? Forget about it. Stay at home’.

“I bumped into their Belgian winger, Jeremy Doku, a few days later and showed him the chat. He was laughing his head off.

“We’ve been pushing each other for two seasons already. That experience will make us stronger.”

Oleksandr Zinchenko has retained a strong relationship with some of his former Manchester City teammates, and the club themselves are very welcoming whenever the Ukraine international makes a return with his Arsenal side.

Pep Guardiola is hugely complimentary of Zinchenko for the player’s rise within the game and his contributions to City’s success over the last few seasons, highlighted by a personal phone call to thank the defender for his work after the club won the Champions League in 2023.