Man City star to make ‘definitive’ transfer decision in January amid six-club battle | OneFootball

Bernardo Silva will make a firm decision on his future ‘in the new year’, our transfer insider Dean Jones has confirmed, with at least six clubs spying deals for the Manchester City legend.

Silva has entered the final year of his Man City contract. This means that from January 1, he can reach a pre-contract agreement to join a European club next summer.

Alternatively, the midfielder could wait until the summer to hold talks with Premier League clubs, but this appears unlikely given his strong ties with City.

Bernardo Silva’s glittering Man City career

In September, Silva said: “I know exactly what I’m going to do, but it’s not the time to focus on it.”

Instead, Silva revealed he is focused on leading City to glory, and to ‘put the club back where it belongs’. He was tipped to leave the Etihad in the summer but was convinced to stay as Pep Guardiola made him captain.

Amid growing talk surrounding Silva’s future, we asked Jones whether the Portugal ace will sign a new contract at City or push for a different challenge.

“As I understand it, his plan at the start of the season was to let the situation play out and decide definitively early in the new year what the best step would be,” Jones said.

“He is certainly open to leaving, and obviously, as a free agent, he would have the world at his feet. In January, there will certainly be offers starting to land from outside of England.

“He will be a very difficult player to replace, but City have known that an exit is definitely possible, so we will have to see what truly drives him now in terms of ambition at this stage of his career.”

It was claimed on October 14 that Silva ‘wants to leave’ City to complete a fairytale return to Benfica.

He came through the Benfica academy but only made three first-team appearances for the club before joining Monaco in August 2014.

Such a transfer would see Silva play under Guardiola’s former rival Jose Mourinho.

Barcelona, Juventus involved in transfer tussle

But Benfica will face plenty of competition to land the 31-year-old. On October 6, we took a look at five other options he could consider.

Barcelona are long-term admirers of Silva, believing his creative style of play would be perfect for Hansi Flick.

Sources confirmed to us on September 19 that Juventus are keen on signing Silva, too.

The Saudis will try to convince him to leave Europe altogether with an eye-watering contract offer. Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Qadsiah are all monitoring developments closely.

Of course, there is still potential for Silva to extend his contract and remain at City. But if that is what he is planning then he likely would have communicated that decision to fans already.

The playmaker has been a fantastic servant to Guardiola and City, but he could be the latest star to leave amid their squad rebuild.

The Cityzens bolstered their midfield by capturing Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki in the summer. They are keeping tabs on numerous midfielders ahead of the 2026 transfer windows, including Elliot Anderson, Carlos Baleba, Kobbie Mainoo and Morten Hjulmand.

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