Bernardo Silva is more than a footballer. He is a time-travelling, shapeshifting superhero. In 55 years of watching football, I have never seen anybody or anything like him. For the past decade, I have been lucky enough to watch him turning out week in, week out for my club, Manchester City. And now it is time to say goodbye.
A Versatile Genius
Some footballers are famous for playing in virtually every position on the field. James Milner, John O'Shea, and Phil Neville come to mind. They tend to be solid, stolid types, as reliable as they are unimaginative. Silva, however, is in a sphere of his own when it comes to versatility. Not only is he supremely skilful, he often plays in every position in a single match. Occasionally he even plays in every position in a single move. He collects the ball from the keeper, the Lisbon Beckenbauer and the most unlikely libero on earth. As the ball is recycled in defence, he pops up at right-back. More recycling, and he becomes the playmaker extraordinaire, turning on a sixpence for a defence-splitting pass. Then he pops up on the wing to curl an inswinging cross into the back post. By the time the ball gets half-cleared to the edge of the penalty area, Bernardo is there to blast a shot high and wide into the crowd.
Memorable Goals and Stamina
There have been great goals: the curler into the top corner against Arsenal, the screamer against United, the astonishing volley against Birmingham in the FA Cup. Then there are the hugely important goals, none more so than the two against Real Madrid in the 2023 Champions League semi-final. His stats are not outstanding; he will not be remembered for the number of goals or assists (76 goals and 77 assists in 459 appearances). But he will be remembered for his astonishing grace, huge intelligence, the ability to find space where none exists, to beat men with subtle shimmies, and to dribble through brick walls. Most of all, he will be remembered for his superhuman double engine and sheer stamina. He never seems to tire, never wants to be substituted, and is hardly ever injured. In City's 2-1 home victory over Liverpool in 2019, he ran 13.7km, the greatest distance recorded in a Premier League match.
Endurance and Loyalty
When it came to Manchester, he endured. Every season he told us he wanted to leave, but that was not because he did not love us. It was just because he and his family wanted sunnier climes. In the end, though, Manchester and City won out. Until now. For 109 glorious games, Bernardo played in midfield alongside his namesake David. This was Pep's prime pocket-size era. Guardiola did not want players who could embarrass the opposition by putting the ball through opponents' legs; he wanted players who could put themselves between opponents' legs. In the era of the two Silvas, City became the first and only Premier League team to secure 100 points in a season and the first to win a domestic clean sweep of trophies. With one Silva, they secured a treble of league, FA Cup, and Champions League and became the first team to win four successive Premier League titles.
Personality and Spikiness
Bernardo is cute, fun, and lovable when he likes you. There are endless videos of City players carrying him around like a doll or chucking him into a pool. But he can also bite. Rivals would love him to play for them, but they cannot stand him when he is playing for us. He is master of the tactical foul, the sly nudge, and has been known to let his boot linger. Against Brentford a few weeks ago, he clashed with Nathan Collins, and I genuinely feared for the 6ft 4in defender. His tongue can be just as sharp as his tackle. When asked why he had not been training in the gym, Bernardo said: 'I do not do gym. That is for the guys who do not know how to play with their feet.' Perhaps he was at his spikiest when City formed a guard of honour after Liverpool won the league in July 2020. He was the only City player who refused to clap the newly crowned champions. Afterwards he explained: 'In my opinion, it is a kind of hypocrisy. It is not a tradition we have in Portugal. If they want to do it, they can do it, but I was not going to clap Liverpool because that is not how I celebrate defeat.'
Final Season and Legacy
In his final season at City, he has been captain and led a new team to triumph in the League Cup and FA Cup. Again, his numbers have not been anything to write home about (three goals and five assists), but the only thing this proves is that stats do lie. He is leaving at his peak. Never has he been more omnipresent than over the past nine months. This season he has not only been undroppable but virtually unsubstitutable. My defining memory of Bernardo 2025-26 is him flying through the air to beat Arsenal's Viktor Gyökeres to a gravity-defying, potentially match-winning clearance. This was the header that prompted Erling Haaland to tell him: 'You were like fucking Cannavaro.' For Pep, Bernardo was more than a footballer he admired, more than a player he dare not drop, more than an obsession. For Pep, Bernardo was an addiction. He put it best last December after City beat West Ham 3-0: 'Bernie is my weakness. My favourite one.' Who am I to disagree with Pep?
