Benfica executive provides encouraging Manchester City update on Bernardo Silva future | OneFootball

Benfica presidential candidate Joao Noronha Lopes has again spoken about his desire to bring Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva back to his boyhood club.

Silva has been heavily linked with a return to Portugal as he progresses deeper into the final year of his current Manchester City contract, with no information as yet on renewal talks at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City appointed Hugo Viana as the club’s director of football in the summer and the Portuguese conducted a thorough revamp of Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad in his first transfer window in charge of the club.

Guardiola appointed Silva as Manchester City captain at the start of the season, underpinning the trust the Catalan holds in the former AS Monaco man, who joined the Blues for £43 million in 2017 and has been arguably Guardiola’s best value signing at the Etihad Stadium.

Silva will not have a dearth of suitors as he assesses his options away from Manchester City, having long held a desire for a new challenge amid strong interest from the likes of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain between 2020 and 2022.

However, Guardiola has managed to keep hold of one of his most important players, whom he handed the Manchester City armband when he decided upon the club captaincy for the first time in his managerial career.

Furthermore, Silva has publicly said that he has made up his mind on his future but a decision is unlikely to be announced soon, with the six-time Premier League winner focused on leading Manchester City back to winning titles after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign.

Benfica presidential candidate Joao Noronha Lopes has made Silva the hallmark of his campaign and the Portuguese outfit remain the most outspoken suitors of the Manchester City skipper, who is also attracting offers from the United States and Saudi Arabia.

“I really want to bring him (Silva) back,” Lopes said this week, as quoted by SAPO and relayed by Sport Witness.

“I’ve been talking to him for a long time. I repeat what I said at the beginning of the campaign, and I’ll say it again now – with me, the president will return. I’m not setting deadlines.

“He (Silva) is someone I admire, he’s a great Benfica supporter. Bernardo makes his own decisions. I perfectly understand that he doesn’t take a public position regarding the elections.”

Viana and co are expected to do everything in their power to convince Silva to put pen to paper and commit his future to Manchester City, who will equally be working behind the scenes to scout potential replacements for the playmaker should he leave for free next summer.