Bernardo Silva will not change colors. After a few weeks in which it seemed that he would leave the sky blue for the Blaugrana, the Portuguese midfielder will finally continue at Manchester City this season. This was confirmed this Thursday by his coach, Pep Guardiola, on Els Matins de Catalunya Ràdio, where the Catalan coach was interviewed to talk about the friendly that the English team will play against Barça on August 24 at the Camp Nou.
"On Wednesday Bernardo will come to Barcelona, you will see him. And I will make him play. What is certain is that he will play with us, with City," Guardiola said in a relaxed talk in which Juan Carlos Unzué also participated. And it is that the reason for the meeting will be to raise funds for the fight against ALS, a disease suffered by the ex-soccer player and ex-coach from Navarra, of which he was diagnosed in February 2020.
Somehow he came to repeat the idea of "Bernardo and ten more" that he blurted out at the party's presentation at the end of June, when the market had not yet opened. On that occasion she said that she was counting on him, but that she did not like having players in his squad that she did not like. He wanted players involved.
Barça's difficulty in releasing Frenkie de Jong or other players with a bill that compensated their signing in a certain way will prevent them from satisfying the demand for Xavi Hernández in midfield. The 28-year-old (with a contract until 2025) wanted a change of scenery, but he respects City's decision not to let him out. The cityzens did not want to sell it for less than 100 million after the previous course had brought back the best version of it.
Bernardo thanked on his social networks for feeling supported by the fans in the last Premier League match played at the Etihad last weekend. At the end of the match he took off his shirt, gave it to a fan and received a standing ovation from his team. "I would like to thank everyone in the stadium for those beautiful moments of love and support that they showed me."
Beyond the comment about Bernardo, Guardiola referred to what it means for him every time he returns to the Camp Nou. "When I go as a fan, I'm very excited. As a coach, the two times I've been there they've scored four," he joked. And it is that in his last and only visit with City, in 2016, he lost 4-0. His other precedent was against Bayern in the 2015 Champions League semifinals (3-0), the night Messi broke Boateng's waist.
"I arrived there when I was 13 years old. Barça has given me everything that is good in terms of sport. It is a joy to come back and for this reason even more so. It will be a good game, we will have a good time, I am already preparing the game to give Barça a hard time (laughs) What there will be above all will be a lot of hugs, before, during and after the match."
One of those he will embrace most strongly will be Unzué, whom he admires for how he is coping with this degenerative and incurable disease that "flagship". "Life has dealt him a blow and what he does is get up every time he falls to the ground. Hopefully the party can help raise funds and research can continue to try to find a solution to this terrible disease sooner or later. people cheer up and come to be all together".
