Fabrizio Romano has explained why Bernardo Silva's proposed exit from Manchester City fell through this summer.
What happened with Bernardo Silva in the recent transfer window?
City boss Pep Guardiola confirmed at the start of August that Silva wanted to leave the club after spending the last four years in Manchester.
The 27-year-old was linked with a transfer to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid and Serie A giants AC Milan. However, neither move materialised, meaning that Silva remains a Manchester City player.
What has Romano said about Silva?
Romano has claimed that Milan was never a serious option for Silva due to the club being unwilling to match City's asking price for the midfielder. He has confirmed that Atletico were interested, though, but they opted to sign Antoine Griezmann instead on deadline day.
Clarifying the situation on The Here We Go Podcast, Romano said: “I want to say that Atletico Madrid were planning for a move for Bernardo Silva if they didn’t have the chance of signing Antoine Griezmann. Bernardo Silva was on Atletico Madrid’s list but was not the first name because the first name was always Antoine Griezmann.
“For Atletico Madrid, it was not easy to find a solution because Bernardo wants to play and play and play, and he wanted to look for solutions but it was not easy to find a club willing to pay €60-65m (£51.3-55.6m). AC Milan were never an option because they were not interested in paying this kind of money. With Bernardo Silva, now, Pep Guardiola’s mission is to rebuild the right mentality with the player. So, to try to include Bernardo in Manchester City’s key players again, and to have Bernardo available for the season as a key player. So, work in progress on this side.”
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Can Silva play a major role for City this season?
It seemed that there was a real possibility that Silva would leave the club last month, and this may explain why he was left on the bench for City's opening day defeat to Tottenham.
The 61-cap international has returned to the starting line-up since that game, though, helping the side to successive 5-0 wins over Norwich and Arsenal, before scoring the winner in the 1-0 victory over Leicester this past weekend.
This indicates that he has put the speculation regarding his future behind him, and is ready to make a telling contribution this year as City go in search of their fourth league title in the last five seasons.
Guardiola's side have an abundance of talent in attacking positions, including new signing Jack Grealish, but it seems that Silva still has a lot to offer, and remains a valued member of the squad.