Bernardo Silva: Nine years of brilliance at Manchester City

Bernardo Silva: Nine years of brilliance at Manchester City

With the final international break of the 2025/26 campaign having now finally subsided, and whilst we are certainly glad to have Manchester City back in our lives, there is one looming reality that is difficult to ignore.

Bernardo Silva – one of the defining players of the modern era – may not be part of life at the Etihad Stadium for much longer.

With a contract expiring in June and an expectation that the current club captain and long-term midfield playmaker would be leaving in the summer, sadly, assistant coach Pep Lijnders has confirmed that Silva’s time at Manchester City is coming to an end.

Speaking after City’s 4-0 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final, Lijnders told reporters, “Every good story comes to an end and I hope he enjoys the last months – it’s only six weeks – and has a good farewell. He deserves all that attention as well.”

With a natural break from his time at City upcoming after nine illustrious seasons, Bernardo Silva is understandably eager for a change of scenery. And he will be severely missed, yet fondly remembered.

Very few footballers have contributed more to Manchester City than Bernardo Silva in the 132-year history of the club. He is nothing short of an icon and, undoubtedly, one of the greatest players in the club’s history.

Upon venturing to the Premier League from AS Monaco in 2017, Bernardo Silva rapidly established himself as a reliable and dependable member of Pep Guardiola’s Centurion side – the only English team, so far, to have recorded a 100-point achievement in the top-flight.

The following season, Silva further flourished and thrived as a vital participant, as the club became the first in the history of English football to claim an unprecedented domestic quadruple; winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and Community Shield.

Bernardo Silva was rightly named as the club’s 2018/19 Player of the Season owing to his tremendous contributions to perhaps the most astounding domestic campaign in England, with his indomitable work rate, bastion-like defensive contributions, and finesse in possession defining his game.

In the years that followed, Silva was ever-present as Pep Guardiola’s side dominated English football and collected major honours year after year, throughout which the extensive skills set of the Portuguese international proved integral, as did his versatility across the pitch.

Ingenious and innovative going forward, but also a dogged defender, Bernardo Silva’s adaptability proved undeniable.

Perhaps most notably, in February 2023, he was unusually deployed at left- back, and unprecedentedly and expertly contained Arsenal talisman Bukayo Saka in a must-win game at the Emirates. Pep Guardiola’s side ran out 1-3 winners en route to their third of a record-breaking four successive Premier League titles.

Synonymous with the glorious reign of Pep Guardiola, having been a continual and integral factor in – literally – every trophy that Manchester City have earned throughout the Catalan’s tenure, Bernardo Silva warrants immense respect and adulation for his longevity, consistency, and colossal contributions to success throughout his time in the North-West.

The diminutive Portuguese’s relentless energy and tireless work-rate perpetually proved paramount to the success of the club under Pep Guardiola, and it is for this defining trait that Silva will be best remembered by the Manchester City faithful.

A mentality monster, Bernardo Silva’s commitment, passion, and determination were vital in the club collecting a plethora of honours, including six Premier League titles, two FA Cup triumphs, five League Cups, three Community Shields, a UEFA Super Cup, a FIFA Club World Cup, and – above all – the UEFA Champions League.

En route to the latter, six years into his Manchester City career, Bernardo Silva produced perhaps his most iconic moments in sky blue, with a scintillating first-half brace against Real Madrid helping to drive the club to the Champions League final.

Weeks later in Istanbul, Silva recorded arguably the most important assist in the history of the club, when his cross led to Rodri finding the back of the net to secure a historic and phenomenal continental treble.

Following the departure of then-captain Kevin De Bruyne in 2025, Bernardo Silva was deservedly handed the armband prior to the start of the 2025/26 campaign, during which he notably led the side throughout City’s League Cup victory over Arsenal, raising the trophy himself following a tense encounter.

Criminally underrated and widely under-appreciated, few have contributed more to Manchester City than Bernardo Silva.

A leader, a captain. Dependable, mercurial, tenacious. We may never see his like again. Few have fought as fiercely and ferociously for the sky blue shirt of Manchester City as the Portuguese maestro has.

Nine seasons, over 450 appearances, and 19 trophies later (and counting?), Bernardo Silva is synonymous with Manchester City’s golden era and leaves the club as nothing short of a bona fide club legend.

With this being the beginning of the end, there is only one thing left to say: Thank you, Bernardo. For everything.