Barcelona President Joan Laporta Makes Transfer Admission Over Man City Star

• The La Liga champions apparently had an agreement in place to sign the Manchester City star
• Bernardo Silva still has two years left on his Manchester City contract
• The Portugal star could leave the Citizens this summer

Barcelona president Joan Laporta claims that he had sealed an agreement to sign Bernardo Silva before he joined Manchester City.

The Portugal star who looks set to leave the Etihad this summer had held talks with the La Liga champions last year, albeit to no avail. The 28-year-old is contracted to City until 2025 having signed a contract extension in 2019.

Bernardo has played 51 matches this season, featuring in all but four games with five goals and seven assists to show for his efforts.

In January, President Laporta, considering Barcelona’s financial situation was adamant that Barcelona would not pay €80m for Silva, but links with the Catalan club remain frequent. And speaking to Diario AS, the 60-year-old told of how he had agreed to sign the midfielder in 2015 while he was playing for AS Monaco.

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That year, he lost the presidential election to Josep Maria Bartomeu, who had different plans and so the move never materialised.

Laporta said: “I know him (Bernardo) personally. In 2015 I had an agreement for him to sign. But then I did not win the election.” Two years later he signed for City in a £43m deal.

Gundogan also linked to Barcelona

Reports according to Marca have linked Bernado Silva’s City teammate and captain Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona, as he sorts a future away from the Etihad.

The club captain is in fine form as he approaches the end of his contract. Barcelona are looking for cost-effective deals this summer as they try to manage their massive debt within La Liga's finance rules.

It means Gundogan may be a more appealing option than Silva, who would command a large fee to exit from his contract early. Aymeric Laporte is another player who seems to be heading for the exit door if rumours are to be believed.

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Barcelona to Fund Messi Transfer

Earlier Sports Brief reported that Barcelona are pushing to raise money to fund the transfer of Lionel Messi, as the Argentine forward nears the end of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain.

The Catalan club’s financial woes were the main reason Messi left the club in 2021 to pitch his tent in France, with Barcelona wanting to reunite with their former captain when he becomes a free agent.

According to SB Nation, Barcelona are considering selling French defender, Jules Kounde, who only joined the club from Sevilla last summer, to raise money to sign Messi.