Bernardo Silva, the Manchester City player, revealed that he received tempting offers from the Saudi League last summer, but the atmosphere of European football made him prefer to continue with his club rather than move to the Rushen League.
Over the course of last summer, the Portuguese international was a target for Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr and Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia, and it is likely that the financial offer made to the 29-year-old was similar to the salary of Neymar and Karim Benzema, meaning approximately 200 million euros annually.
Bernardo, in press statements, revealed what happened and said, “I would be lying if I told you that I did not think about the offers that arrived from Saudi Arabia.”
He also added, "But what ignites my passion is the heat of the Champions League semi-finals, when the stadium catches fire after scoring a goal for Real Madrid or when we win the final."
He continued, "I did not want to lose this atmosphere and events, so my decision was to continue with Manchester City."
It is noteworthy that Bernardo is not the only European star player who refused to move to the Saudi League. Napoli striker Victor Osimhen revealed a similar story to him with Al Hilal, after a financial offer that “almost changed his life,” but in the end he chose to continue on the old continent.
Bernardo talked about his next step if he left Manchester City, and the surprise was that he would like to return to the Portuguese League and not move to Barcelona, which has been most interested in his services in recent years.
He added, "I want to return to Benfica. If the club wants me, then the transfer can happen."
He concluded, "I will never play for Sporting Lisbon or Porto, that will not happen."
Bernardo began his career with Benfica, from where he moved to Monaco for 15 million euros, then joined Manchester City in the summer of 2017 for 50 million euros, and with it began a series of individual and collective achievements, the most recent of which was achieving the Champions League.
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