Bernardo Silva : the next Portuguese star ?

Why would Frenkie go to City? Pep is just going to play him as a glorified attacking midfielder the way Xavi is doing right now and people will call him a flop.

It makes way more sense for him to go elsewhere. He needs to play in a team where he'll play behind the ball and be given the freedom to play his game instead of playing in rigid positional systems.

The only way him going to City makes sense is if Pep decides to move to a 4-2-3-1 which I'm getting the feeling he might. City has been playing that shape in the PL recently. Their wingers are tucking narrow with their fullbacks making runs from deep on the overlap. I guess he might see him as a good partner for Rodri in a double pivot.

() JUST IN: Laporta has called Mendes to let him know Barça WILL soon advance in the signing of Bernardo Silva. Although it depends on FDJ, Barça believes he will depart in the end. Pep has already told Silva he won’t come in the way of his exit. @HelenaCondis #Transfers pic.twitter.com/DbjDPsQb07

— Reshad Rahman ✆ (@ReshadRahman_) July 29, 2022

Can Kessie play the FDJ role? Surely you don't want to rely on a 34 year old Busquets to play the whole season.

The FDJ role? You mean the DM role?

Frenkie was never going to be Busquets' successor because he abandons his position and takes too much time on the ball. Not disciplined enough for a pivot. And we're not going to play a double pivot to cover for his butt, he's been tried as a sole DM and wasnt better than grandpa Busquets at all.

No idea if Kessie can do it, probably not at a very high level either. I think Busquets is still really good in the right environment

Don't you think him abandoning his position has got more to the instructions he gets from his coach?

Relying solely on Busquets won't work, he's shown time and time again he doesn't have the physicality to play the modern game. He is world class when you have a team that controls the midfield, but don't tell me you don't remember how many times he was invisible when the other teams countered with pace, being bypassed so easily like he wasn't even there. He never had the legs to compete and he's a year older now.

You don't want to rely on Busquets for an entire season.

Also I don't get your obsession with Silva. He's good but you also have plenty of midfielders who can be equally as important. Pedri, Kessié, Gavi maybe in a year or two. You also have Collado coming, another attacking minded midfielder who has impressed in preseason. You're certainly spoilt for options when it comes to midified, yet you have nobody in RB (Dest is very meh) or LB (Alba on his last legs). Shouldn't you be spending the money on these positions instead?

RBs and LBs are not star signings that's why they're looking at budget options for these positions. Laporta wants to make a statement signing with Bernardo who is definitely an elite player.

Targets for
RB: Azpilicueta
LB: Jose Gaya (last year of contract), Marcos Alonso, Caio Henrique, Mojica, Reguilon


Even in this thread if you look a few pages back folks were claiming Silva the best CM in the world so do you really have to ask why we're obsessed with him?

I can see why Laporta wants to spend 10-15m max on both LB+RB and then go big for Bernardo. He'd be amazing paired up with Pedri

We havent been linked to a single DM this summer. I agree that we need one. Who would you suggest that is available on the market?

he's coming home,

"What will happen will happen and if in the end he has to leave it's because football is like this and I won't be a person to stop the desires of the people. When you are a football player it is so short.'

— Sam Lee (@SamLee) August 5, 2022

Well that's nothing new he's wanted to leave for a couple of years. The million dollar question is, can Barca afford him. Read somewhere yesterday that QSG is interested, i don't know whether that was before or after they got Sanches

QSG cannot compete with this

Image: Bernardo Silva when he was a child with a Barcelona shirt. pic.twitter.com/NRn7mapJxu

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) May 6, 2022

Do I have to list the players who have played for other teams than the ones they liked when they were kids? Will take me all day

Don't burst my bubble please. What sense does a PSG move make for Bernardo other than financial? It'll be just like with Lewa, they'll pursue him but he won't even listen to their offer

I think Lewas situation is different. He probably made a commitment early on. QSG and Chelsea came into the picture long after but by then he had already given Laporta his word. Not everyone go back on their word.....

Silva wants to leave but I don't think he'd mind where, though I do think he prefers Spain and its Mediterranean weather and lifestyle.

QSG don't have the same pull as a few years ago. Their CL failures have turned them into a meme. Their squad barely has any stars, nobody wants to play with a past it Neymar and Messi and nobody is going to join cause of Mbappé because you know he's going to leave in 2 seasons regardless.

Is this a farewell message lol

A great performance from the team and a fantastic atmosphere! I would also like to thank everyone at the stadium for those beautiful moments of love and support you guys showed me pic.twitter.com/H6OWz2Oh4b

— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) August 14, 2022

I know Xavi wants him because of his control, technical security and versatility. He’s obviously a major upgrade on Gavi.

Watching Barca though it seems like they’d benefit from someone with KDB’s style more than Bernardo’s. Their RW is either Raphinha or Dembele and they’re both left footed so their tendency is to cut inside.

There’s a lot of potential for them to play the underlapping patterns with the CM next to them, but that gets wasted with a left footed player in the right half space. Bernardo also isn’t really much of a final pass player and I think they’d benefit from having a bigger chance creator in the middle of the pitch since they’re already so insistent on crossing.

Yesss get him out of the PL. He is a one man army

I agree but do you have anyone in mind? Players of KDBs qualities seem quite rare

pray for @farfan

first his favourite player becomes a Pep pinocchio and then he goes to Barca

Control means nothing if you don't have enough creativity to penetrate. Agreed with @Casciavit re too many left footed players.

I've said it before, you need to strengthen where you're lacking, not just go for big Hollywood signings. Barça's wingbacks are the obvious weak link (in fact they don't have an RB, period). Dest, Roberto, Araújo are bang on average players who wouldn't get into any big team. Alba is old and so is Alonso (if you end up signing him), not to mention Alonso is not La Liga material IMHO. They will hold your team back even if you could sign KDB for that matter.

Dembele is both footed tbh, he cuts inside as much as he goes to his right

He had many assists crossing with his right if youve seen the games he also takes corners with his right foot.

Kevin De Bruyne wrote:[Silva] knows, I think he's very loved. The way that I see it, I think that he will be here, so there's nothing that I'm worried about.

Se queda

Source

Man City are unwilling to sell Bernando Silva unless they receive an offer of circa £100m.

(Source: @David_Ornstein / @TheAthleticUK)

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 15, 2022

I believe the figure is close to 100m Euros not GBP. Which is around €80m.

80m euros +bonuses would be the final fee probably

We will sell De Jong for 80m so that covers it, anyway the fee isnt the problem as much as the salary mass

ehh it was fun while it lasted, Frenkie looks like staying anyway

() Increasingly getting difficult for Barcelona to get Silva. As days are passing, there’s been no movement. City will NOT speak about selling him unless the fee can be b/w €90M-€100M. The player would like a Barça move, but won’t force anything. @martinezferran #Transfers

— Reshad Rahman ✆ (@ReshadRahman_) August 18, 2022