Pep Guardiola continues to rebuild Manchester City into his own fashion, splashing out £43million for Portugal international Bernardo Silva.
Having succeeded Manuel Pellegrini last summer Guardiola spent a combined total of over £160milion on John Stones, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan, Claudio Bravo, and Nolito. Despite this heavy outlay the Spaniard ended the season trophyless for the first time in his career, as the Blues limped to a third-place finish in the Premier League and came up short in the cup competitions.
Guardiola has been given license to continue to rebuild the City squad as he sees fit, and this has resulted in a number of departures from his first team squad since the season ended last weekend. Willy Caballero, Gael Clichy, Jesus Navas, Bacary Sagna, and Pablo Zabaleta will leave upon the expiry of their contracts, with the latter already signing for West Ham United.
And now the Etihad Stadium club have clinched their first arrival of the summer, with Silva arriving from Monaco in a £43million deal. The 22-year-old forward, who will likely play on the right-side of midfield, is regarded by many as one of the best young talents in world football, and was particularly impressive when his side knocked City out of the UEFA Champions League.
“If not the best coach in the world, [Guardiola] is one of the best,” said Silva on Friday afternoon. “Of course when you have the opportunity of being trained by Guardiola, you don’t say no. As we all know, what he did in Barcelona and Bayern Munich was amazing and we expect also here that he will win titles. It’s great to be working with him and to have this opportunity.”
Silva, who will wear the number 20 shirt for the Blues, is understood to have signed a five-year contract. A product of the Benfica academy, he has 12 caps for Portugal and was a key member of the Monaco side which won the Ligue 1 title and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
