Barcelona are heating up their pursuit of Manchester City playmaker Bernardo Silva and are trying to tempt him with a key role in their squad next season.
Despite winning the club’s player of the season award last campaign, Silva’s significance on the City squad has lessened, with Phil Foden emerging which kept the Portuguese midfielder to just 23 appearances in the Premier League.
Barcelona are targeting Silva and are willing to look into a player-plus-cash deal for former City target Nelson Semedo, according to the Telegraph.
However, their budget would mean they could not afford him – so they are looking for some creative ways to tempt him to leave and City to sell.
The 25-year-old featured in less than half of City’s Premier League matches after the lockdown and manager Pep Guardiola explained the few factors that have led to his lack of involvement.
‘This season, maybe it was my fault or maybe Phil was more involved and Riyad maintained his level and the other players played good too,’ Guardiola explained when asked on the subject.
Silva joined City three seasons ago after arriving from Ligue 1 side Monaco for £43.5million with add-ons.
Barcelona have already successfully complete a player-swap deal this summer as they switched Arthur Melo with Miralem Pjanic from Juventus.
The club are prioritising that method of operating in the current transfer market post-coronavirus lockdown.
They are said to be very keen on signing Silva and will happily use players to lure him in, as a player of his quality rarely becomes available.
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