Pep Guardiola said Bernardo Silva has still not told him whether he will leave Manchester City, even after the manager asked him a month ago to be the first to know if he had made up his mind. Guardiola said on Friday that he was angry with Silva for keeping him in the dark and repeated that the captain should be the one to announce any decision to the club, the media and the fans.
Guardiola called naming Silva captain this season the best decision he made, saying the Portugal international put the team first when others could not. He pointed to Silva’s role last season, when injuries hit the squad and the midfielder stayed fit, helped City finish third in the Premier League and remained available through a difficult campaign. Guardiola said Silva has been under his orders longer than anyone else in the dressing room and called him an incredible servant, while adding that he would love him to stay and finish his career at the club.
The issue matters now because Silva’s contract expires in June and Manchester City are in the decisive stretch of a title race with Arsenal. The club have already been through a season that has swung from frustration — including draws with Nottingham Forest and West Ham — to sharp high points, such as the Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal and the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Liverpool. Guardiola’s view of Silva has only grown stronger in that pressure, especially after he backed the midfielder as captain during the current campaign.
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Silva has given his own hint about how hard that decision may be. During the international break, he said that if City were in southern Europe, he would stay until they kicked him out, but that life in Manchester is not quite the fit he would ideally want for the next stage of his career. That comment has fed the feeling that this could be his final run at the club, a possibility raised publicly last week and now left hanging because Silva still has not answered Guardiola directly. The manager’s message is clear: the choice is Silva’s, but the first person who should hear it is him.
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Guardiola has coached Silva since he arrived from Monaco nine years ago, and the pair are now entering the 10th season of that relationship with no public clarity on what comes next. Silva’s contract ends in June, the speculation is growing, and Guardiola has said enough to show what he wants. He wants the captain to stay, to finish where he started, and to tell him first if the farewell is coming.
