Exclusive: PSG have concrete interest in Man City star or similar transfer but sales needed first, says expert.
Bernardo Silva, an offensive midfielder for Manchester City, may be a transfer target for Paris Saint-Germain.
The Portugal international is the ideal candidate for PSG in this summer’s transfer window, but Jonathan Johnson, a French football specialist, suggests in his exclusive CaughtOffside column that player sales may be necessary first.
Although Johnson has also mentioned that players like Silva may now be considering new challenges after achieving all they can at the Etihad Stadium following their treble triumph in 2022–2023, City will undoubtedly not want to let a crucial player like him go.
Due to the fact that Bernardo was acquired by Luis Campos when he was working for Monaco in Ligue 1, he also has connections to Luis Campos at PSG.
It will be interesting to see how this develops, but one tricky issue for PSG is the cost, with Johnson naming Marco Verratti as someone who could potentially be sold to help fund this important signing.
“Bernardo Silva is another interesting one – there’s the Luis Campos connection there, as they were together at Monaco,” Johnson explained.
“If PSG want to revamp their attack, adding a quality player like Silva seems like a no-brainer. He’s at an interesting point in his career as well, because a number of Manchester City players, now that the treble has been won, might turn their eyes towards a new challenge elsewhere.
“Similarly, we’ve also seen Ilkay Gundogan linked with PSG, so I think Silva, based on the success he had in France in the past, seems a logical target to look at bringing in.
“The question, unlike with free agents Zaha and Thuram, would be financing the move, because Silva would likely be a significant financial outlay, both in terms of a transfer fee and his wages, even if they’re not quite in the same league as the likes of Messi and Neymar.
“It’s a deal that would require PSG to get a bit creative in terms of raising money elsewhere, and we’ve seen them open the door to Marco Verratti moving on. We know a goalkeeper of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s quality would also have plenty of suitors if he were ever to be on the market, so I think these are the kinds of factors that could come into play.
“PSG are definitely interested in Silva’s profile, someone of that kind of mould who can change their style of play for the better.
The front three have been the obvious focal point in the last couple of years, but Silva could give them something different in terms of linking the midfield and attack, so that’s something worth looking at, especially as, if you’re losing both Messi and Neymar you’re looking at a loss of potentially 15-30 assisted goals over the course of the season – that’s a big gap that would need to be filled, so it’s no surprise that Campos is looking at this one, a player he’s had plenty of success with in the past.”
