Manchester City have declined Paris Saint-Germain’s opening offer for their star midfielder Bernardo Silva.
The 28 year-old midfield dynamo continues to be the subject of a potential exit from the Etihad Stadium despite an eagerness on Pep Guardiola’s part to keep Silva at Manchester City for the new campaign, after club captain Ilkay Gundogan left to join Barcelona.
Silva is invariably the ideal replacement to fill the vacancy left by the German midfielder, who chose not to sign a new deal with the treble-winners and moved to La Liga instead, effectively ending his seven-year stay in East Manchester last month.
Barcelona had shown keen interest in signing Silva last summer but the Catalan club’s persisting financial woes prevented any chance of the Portuguese midfielder joining his former Blues teammate Gundogan at the Camp Nou.
Paris Saint-Germain, who had an offer worth €70 million for Silva rejected by Manchester City last summer, have renewed their interest in the Portugal international, as Luis Enrique seeks to replace Lionel Messi.
However, PSG have seen their latest attempts to sign the treble-winner come to naught, with the Cityzens rejecting the French champions’ opening bid, according to Duncan Castles, with the journalist reporting that PSG are competing alongside both Barcelona and Saudi Arabia for the signature of the five-time Premier League title winner. To this end, Luis Campos is leading the Parisian’s pursuit of bringing Silva back to Ligue 1 as he is a friend of Silva’s, having signed the midfielder for AS Monaco back in 2014, after which Manchester City signed the midfielder in 2017 from the French club for £43 million.
Manchester City are still nursing hopes of persuading the 28-year-old to sign a new contract and remain at the club. Silva played a crucial role in the Blues’ maiden Champions League triumph last season but has chosen to remain coy regarding his future. The Portuguese star scored twice against Real Madrid in the semi-final second-leg at the Etihad Stadium in May, and also provided the assist for Rodri’s winning goal in the Champions League Final against Inter Milan.
Silva has made over 300 appearances and won 14 trophies since signing for Manchester City in 2017.