Manchester City midfielder is in the final year of his contract.
With the final year of his contract approaching, and despite Pep Guardiola’s desire to keep him at Manchester City , Bernardo Silva has yet to decide where he will play in the summer of 2026. “This is my last year of contract. We’ll see what happens,” said the Portuguese international in an interview with DAZN, who, in his ninth year with Manchester City, assumed the role of team captain after Kevin De Bruyne’s departure. “It was a difficult moment because it was when a friend was leaving. It was when Kevin, who was our captain, was leaving. So, for me personally, having been with him for eight years, it was hard to see him go. And then it ends up being a mix of the two things you said, it’s a great honor, because obviously, in my 9th year… to be able to represent, to be the voice of the team with the coach and also outside the club. And also to try to be that voice of help for the new players who arrive so that they adapt as quickly as possible.” “It’s a great honor but a great responsibility to try to create this environment, this mix that is always difficult to find, of competitiveness within the team, of ‘I want to play in your place and you want to play in mine’, but at the same time create this healthy and positive energy environment within the locker room. That is now a bit of my responsibility and that of the other captains, and that is a very big responsibility. But at the same time, it’s also a great honor,” he acknowledged.
“And after so many years, and of course being one of the oldest, the time has come to pass on all this experience and information to help the younger guys. As I said, to be as prepared as possible as quickly as possible to be able to fight for important things, which is what is required at this club,” he added.
Still speaking to DAZN, Bernardo took the opportunity to talk about Portugal’s ambitions for the next World Cup in 2026. “There’s the dream of bringing the first World Cup to Portugal, knowing that we have great rivals ahead of us, that it’s a very complicated task. But there’s this great dream that we know can’t just be a dream. It has to be accompanied by a lot of work, with a lot of rigor… we’re going to do our best. The only thing we’re going to promise is that we’re going to give it our all, because more than all the Portuguese people, we really want this. There’s undoubtedly that dream.