After finalising Leroy Sané’s transfer, the bosses of Istanbul’s Galatasaray shifted into a higher gear and are now focused on finding a new attack orchestrator. The yellow-red board have made Portuguese star Bernardo Silva their primary target, and the first meeting with the player, held this week, left both parties with an overwhelmingly positive impression.
According to the newspaper Sabah, Dries Mertens’ departure has vacated the ‘number ten’ role, and the club has decided to fill it with a footballer of the same world-class stature. Talks over Silva are ongoing on a daily basis: the midfielder himself has indicated that he is interested in moving to Istanbul, while Manchester City are ready to sell the Portugal international for a relatively moderate fee, as the 30-year-old has only one season left on his contract.
Bernardo, a Benfica academy graduate who burst onto the scene at Monaco before moving to the Etihad in 2017, has spent eight seasons in England, becoming one of the symbols of the Pep Guardiola era. He played a significant role in City’s historic successes in the Premier League and Champions League and earned a reputation as a versatile creator who can perform brilliantly both in central midfield and on the right flank.
Despite generous offers from Saudi Arabia, Bernardo Silva is currently turning them down; the midfielder makes no secret of his desire to play a few more years in Europe’s top leagues. According to Turkish journalists, this factor puts Galatasaray among the favourites to secure his signature.
The left-footed playmaker is versatile: in addition to the traditional ‘number ten’ role, he confidently covers the positions of deep-lying playmaker and right winger. The player has already given verbal consent to consider the Istanbul giant’s offer, while the Sarı-Kırmızı negotiators are simultaneously haggling with City over the size of the transfer fee. The Turkish club is proceeding with great caution, knowing that Silva wants to assess all available options before announcing a final decision.
Information emerging from both clubs’ corridors suggests that by the final week of the month the parties plan to move from ‘courtesy calls’ to drafting concrete documents. If the deal succeeds, Paulo Dybala, previously identified as the priority alternative, will remain only on the reserve list. Thus, if everything goes according to plan, the Rams Park stands will gain a new idol, and the Turkish champions will acquire a player capable of instantly adding creativity to their positional attacks and lending the team extra international weight in the upcoming Champions League campaign.
