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Pep Lijnders has revealed that Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City in the summer, with the assistant manager hoping the captain is given a fitting farewell.
The 31-year-old Silva, whose contract expires in June, has been in impressive form this season but Lijnders stated it will be his last for City.
The Dutchman said: “When he is not playing you will see how he is missed and that’s one game. But every good story comes to an end, and I hope he enjoys the last months – there are only six weeks – and has a good farewell. He deserves all that attention as well.”
Since joining City from Monaco in July 2017 for £43.5m Silva has been a key member of the generational success of Pep Guardiola’s team, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, the Champions League and two Fifa Club World Cups. He was made the captain for this season by Guardiola.
Lijnders was formerly at Liverpool as the assistant to Jürgen Klopp before he moved to City in the close season. The Dutchman said of Silva: “I didn’t like him before. Now I love him. The way he feels the game, what’s needed. There’s not many like him – when to drop, when to make a move 20 metres away from Rodri.
“You never replace a player with the same kind of player because they don’t exist. Bernardo Silva is unique. The way he controls games, the way he moves, the way he receives, the way he leads, the way he sees the solutions. All these things.
“He feels the task how to play well, to make the team play well. These are the type of players, when they are not playing, you will feel it. He is so, so good. So you never search for a replacement for one type of player.
“You search for what is needed to grow with the team and somebody who can fit in the first XI. And then you hope, with our academy, with the young players we already brought that they can make that step as well in the midfield positions.”
Silva, who has spoken previously of wishing to end his career at Benfica, will become a free agent in the summer. Barcelona retain an interest in signing him. Neither the player nor City have yet made an official announcement about his future.
