Barcelona have not gotten over Pep Guardiola just yet. Since Guardiola’s departure in 2012, Barcelona have been great admirers of the Spanish tactician’s players from Bayern to Manchester City.
In recent times, the Catalan team have been heavily linked with Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres, Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva. However, Barcelona were only able to tie the knots on Spanish forward, Ferran Torres’ move amidst interest from all other City players.
Despite Raheem Sterling’s move to Chelsea and Laporte’s firm stance on remaining at City, Barca are hoping to capitalise on the success of Torres’ deal to strengthen their business relationship with the Manchester club.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are really hopeful that they can lure Bernardo Silva to Camp Nou ahead of the coming season. Bernardo Silva was heavily linked to the Spanish team last summer transfer window but the deal was not brought to fruition due to the aforementioned team’s financial crisis.
The Portuguese play maker remained at the Etihad to produce a masterclass and arguably the best performance of his career. Scoring 13 goals and assisting 14, Silva was one of Guardiola’s best players last campaign.
While Barcelona’s manager, Xavi is looking forward to Bernardo bringing more fluidity and creativity to his midfield, President Joan Laporta is looking to right the wrongs he made with Ferran Torres’ January deal. He said in a speech few months ago, “I like Pep and Txiki, but those bastards sold us Ferran Torres, when he can’t score goals.”
- With hopes that Bernardo Silva is still in the spirit of seeking a move to Spain, Barcelona are confident they can wrap up the deal in the coming weeks. Laporta is however not intimidated by the Portugese star’s £100m price tag, but is hoping to negotiate the price to suit his club’s current financial state.