Bernardo Silva has effectively received the green light to join FC Barcelona from his Manchester ... [+]
Bernardo Silva has effectively received the green light to join FC Barcelona from his Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola during a press conference ahead of the Community Shield.
Catalan Guardiola is a Barca legend after having coming through the La Masia academy as a youngster and then becoming an integral part of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team which won four La Liga titles consecutively and the club's first Champions League crown in 1992.
As a manager, Guadriola started with the reserve B team now known as Barca Atletic, and received a promotion to the oversee the senior team in 2008.
By the following year, Guardiola had revolutionised the game with his 'Tiki-taka' style of play and led the Blaugrana to an unprecedented sextuple scooping every major trophy on offer in club football.
Guardiola left his post in 2012 and took up a job at Bayern Munich. While he couldn't replicate continental success there, he recently helped City win the second treble in English history culminated by a UCL final win over Inter Milan in Istanbul.
Along with ex-skipper Ilkay Gundogan, Silva was an integral part of the success enjoyed at the Etihad.
Like the German international, though, he could follow Silva to Catalonia with Barca preparing a €65 million plus €10 million ($11 million) in add-ons proposal for Silva according to SPORT.
Asked about a possible move away for the man he signed from Monaco in 2017, in a press conference ahead of his side's Community Shield meeting with Arsenal, Guardiola effectively gave the potential the signing the green light.
This was done by indicating he would honor an unwritten club policy, which determines players who wish to leave the Etihad will not be forced to stay.
Regardless, however, the bid must be enough to persuade the club's Abu Dhabi owners that selling one of their biggest stars is worthwhile.
"I don’t want any players who don't want to be here," Guardiola said. "I want to work with guys who want to stay.
"But we need a proper offer, we didn’t... If they want him, they'll get on a plane and speak to our sporting director...," he then trailed off.
This also opens the door to sporting director Deco and director of football Mateu Alemany to head north to Manchester and speak to their City counterparts.
With Barca struggling to register new players and navigate Financial Fair Play limits, though, striking any deal with the Premier
Already, City have reportedly knocked back an offer of €80 million ($87.6 million) for Silva from Paris Saint-Germain, which Barca can ill afford to match never mind surpass.