From France: Bernardo Silva reaches agreement with Manchester City over two-year contract extension

Manchester City have been handed a significant boost this transfer window, according to reports in France, after reaching a contractual agreement with Bernardo Silva.

The 29-year-old has been continuously linked with an exit from City for the past couple of seasons, with it being understood that the player held a desire to move closer to his home of Portugal after falling out of love with the lifestyle on offer in Manchester.

As such, the feeling sparked widespread interest from across Europe in the player’s signature, most notably from FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain – both of whom have so far been unable to stump up the required cash to secure an agreement with Manchester City.

Now, with a lack of offers on the table at the desired valuation from the Premier League champions, it seems as though Bernardo Silva has accepted that his final top-level years in professional football are best suited to working under Pep Guardiola.

That is according to the information of Le10Sport’s Alexis Bernard, who states this week that Bernardo Silva has now reached an agreement with Manchester City over the extension of his contract by a further two years, with the news set to be ‘formalised soon’.

The development on negotiations with the Portugal international midfielder comes after The Times had reported in recent days that Bernardo Silva was giving ‘serious consideration’ to signing a new contract at the Etihad Stadium.

For now, Bernardo Silva will remain fully-focussed on returning to full fitness, after being left out of Manchester City’s 22-man travelling squad to face Sevilla in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup in Athens.

Bernardo did star in the club’s Premier League opening weekend win over Burnley on Friday night, as Pep Guardiola’s first-team stars put three goals without reply past Vincent Kompany’s Championship winners.

Manchester City remain in the market for a new central midfielder this summer, with West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta understood to be a player of serious interest to Etihad officials, but could command a transfer fee north of £85 million.

However, City’s pursuit of the Brazilian international is understood to be unrelated to the future of Bernardo Silva, as club officials seek to further reinforce Pep Guardiola’s options as they look to defend their Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League crowns this season.