Pep Guardiola has said he’s still in the dark about Bernardo Silva‘s future at Manchester City despite asking the Portugal midfielder to tell him directly if he’s planning to leave the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season.
Guardiola’s assistant, Pep Lijnders, suggested after the 4-0 win over Liverpool that Bernardo is certain to leave when his contract ends this summer.
But the City boss insists the 31-year-old has not formally informed the club of his plans.
“I’m so grumpy with Bernardo because a month ago I said ‘if you take a decision I have to be the first to [know]’ and he didn’t say anything to me yet,” Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.
“I think the proper one must be Bernardo. I don’t know if he has already decided.
“I said, jokingly, ‘tell me, I deserve it’ but he didn’t tell me so I don’t know what’s going on.”
Bernardo, who has spent nine years at City, has been linked with a return to boyhood club Benfica, as well as moves to Spain and Saudi Arabia.
Asked a follow up question about the former Monaco man, Guardiola joked that “it looks like a farewell press conference for Bernardo, he didn’t tell me!”
Sources have told ESPN that Bernardo is set to leave at the end of the season and is close to making a decision about where to continue his career.
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“He has been an incredible signing for us and I would love him to stay and finish his career here, but he’s going to make his decision when he is going to decide,” Guardiola said.
“An incredible signing for minutes and titles and especially in bad moments.
“I define players in bad moments when everything is difficult. He always made a step up and said ‘I’m here to help’.”
