Bernardo Silva to leave Manchester City: which club will he join next season?
The Portuguese midfielder will put an end to a glittering City career once the current campaign closes.
“You never replace a player with the same kind of player, because they don’t exist. Bernardo Silva is unique." Manchester City assistant manager Pep Lijnders spoke in place of the suspended Pep Guardiola after City’s 4-0 demolition of Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and immediately set the record straight that English football’s all-conquering machine will never be able to function quite in the same way after this season comes to a close.
As for what exactly is special about Silva, Lijnders only mentioned just about every quality he has: “The way he controls games, the way he moves, the way he receives, the way he leads, the way he sees the solutions,” he gushed. “All these things.”
“You never search for a replacement of one type of player, you search for what is needed to grow with the team and somebody who can fit in the first XI.”
"Every good story comes to an end" 🥲
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 5, 2026
Pep Lijnders has confirmed that Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City when his contract expires at the end of the season 🚨 pic.twitter.com/RBt4upLiFn
Where will Bernardo Silva play next season?
But the City replacement question is one for another day. Now the microscope turns to the player himself, and where he could be playing his football next season. Until now, two teams had shone the brightest when it comes to potential destinations: Juventus and Barcelona.
The Spanish side have long admired Bernardo from a distance, hoping that the emotional pull of one of the world’s greatest clubs can draw him from England’s northwest to Spain’s northeast. That’s if the actual economic pull is enough. Barcelona’s financial woes have been well-documented and Silva will presumably command a huge wage and signing-on bonus, even if there is no fee paid to City.
Reports emerged around 10 days ago that suggested Barcelona will indeed miss out on signing Silva, with Juventus moving quicker to secure his signature. Again, however, the financial package that the Italian club can offer appears low in comparison to the latest entrant in the battle.
Recent reports suggest that PSG are also interested in Silva, with the French side arguably the only team of the three mentioned who could put together something akin to his City deal. The 31-year-old has not yet decided which club he will join, but everything seems to point to him making the choice before the start of the World Cup this summer.
Silva joined City from Benfica in 2017 for around $50 million. Since then, he has gone on to play 450 games for the club, scoring 76 goals, providing 77 assists, and winning 19 trophies.
Still wondering what Bernardo Silva was really doing here 🇵🇹😭 pic.twitter.com/vyrymNItWt
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) April 5, 2026
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