Pep Guardiola says he is keen to hold onto Manchester City ace Bernardo Silva but conceded the player ‘likes Barcelona a lot’ amid transfer reports linking the Portuguese with a move to the Catalan club.
Silva played 65 minutes of a friendly between City and Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night and afterwards Guardiola spoke about the midfielder’s future.
Guardiola insisted he was keen to keep hold of the 28-year-old, who has won four Premier League titles at City, and underlined that no offer had been made from Barcelona for the player, despite reports outlining the Spanish side’s interest in him over the past two summers.
However, he accepted Bernardo has an affection for Guardiola’s former side.
“I’m no one to tell Barca to forget about (signing) Bernardo,” Guardiola told reporters after the friendly contest finished 3-3.
“We want him to stay with us, but I don’t want anyone who’s not happy. The first thing would be for the clubs to come to an agreement, but there has been no offer for him in these last two years.
“I don’t want him to go, he’s a superlative player and a great person… and there are only seven or eight days left (in the window) and we would have to turn to the transfer market. I want him to stay. That said, it is true Bernardo likes Barcelona a lot.”