From Portugal: Manchester City midfielder ready to accept major pay cut to join dream club this summer | OneFootball

A new report from Portugal has detailed that Pep Guardiola could see more midfield exits follow after Kevin De Bruyne announced he will be leaving Manchester City at the end of the season.

In his first outing at the Etihad Stadium since announcing his upcoming departure, De Bruyne starred and ran the show for the four-in-a-row Premier League champions as City overturned a two-goal deficit to claim a convincing 5-2 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

A free-kick from distance that went in off the post saw Manchester City launch their comeback through the 33-year-old Belgium international, with Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic, James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly also in amongst the goals for the hosts.

De Bruyne will be one of many senior players to leave Manchester City at the end of the season and after incoming director of football Hugo Viana started work in Manchester last week ahead of taking over from Txiki Begristain in the summer, some key decisions have to be made in the coming months.

Ederson, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Jack Grealish, John Stones, Matheus Nunes and Kyle Walker have all been linked with summer exits as part of a major squad revamp to get Manchester City back challenging for the Premier League and Champions League titles next season.

Pep Guardiola confirmed after the win against Palace that Ilkay Gundogan has triggered an extension clause entered into his Manchester City contract that will keep him at the club into the 2025-26 season.

However, City’s midfield could take new shape into next season as Viana and Begiristain mull over whether this season’s under-performers can still compete at the highest level, with City eyeing a move for Bayer Leverkusen superstar Florian Wirtz this summer.

According to a report by A Bola, whose information has been relayed by Sport Witness, Bernardo Silva is ready to accept a major cut in his salary to return to boyhood club Benfica in the summer transfer window.

Come the end of the season, Silva will enter the final 12 months of his current Manchester City contract and having been linked with a move away from England every summer since 2020, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the Portugal international.

The 30-year-old has been one of Guardiola’s best signings at City, having made 396 appearances across all competitions for the Blues since joining from AS Monaco in the summer of 2017.

Silva is also understood to be open to completing his long-standing desired move to Barcelona but it remains unlikely the La Liga club will make a serious offer for the midfielder owing to the financial restraints that have curbed their transfer dealings since the COVID-19 pandemic.