Bernardo Silva admitted it was time for the next generation to take centre stage at Manchester City and that he was ready for a new challenge.
The 31-year-old City captain will leave the Etihad Stadium after nine trophy-laden years when his contract expires at the end of the season to move closer to his family.
He spoke of his pride in his achievements and his deep gratitude to Pep Guardiola in a farewell interview with the club, in which he also said City were unlucky not to win more Champions League titles.
Coming soon: Bernardo Silva ‘Relentless’ 📺 pic.twitter.com/aPkXHWv41G
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 20, 2026
Silva said: “It’s never enough, but I feel that we won a lot, our generation. I feel that also it’s time for these young guys to have their moment.
“And for me personally, it’s an opportunity to go a bit closer to my family. It’s been quite a long time, 12 years that I’ve been apart and quite far away and I want to be a bit closer to them.
“Even though I love the football club and I loved the nine years here, I feel it’s the right moment for me to have a new challenge in my life – it’s going to be good.”
The Portugal midfielder has made 459 appearances for City in total – placing him in the top 10 of the club’s all-time list – and has scored 76 goals since joining from Monaco in 2017.
He has won 15 major trophies with the club, including four-successive Premier League titles between 2021-2024, the treble in 2023 and all four domestic trophies in the 2018-19 season.
Silva said it was difficult to choose between the domestic quadruple and the treble for his favourite achievement.
“Even though the Champions League adds something special to it, to win a domestic quadruple was really tough, especially against that Liverpool team,” he said.
“But if I have to choose one, I think the treble because the Champions League for this club – the only one that we won, it edges it a little bit.”
Silva said “more of our teams could have done the same” when asked about that treble success, adding: “The final that we lost against Chelsea was a clear example. In my opinion, we were the best team in Europe that season and we played a really bad final.
“The year that we lost to Real Madrid in the semi-final, in the last minutes, I would say that we were the best team again in Europe that year, for me.”
Silva said Kevin De Bruyne was the best player he had played with at City, just ahead of David Silva and that Guardiola was his “idol” before he arrived in Manchester.
“Way before I joined Man City, Pep for me was always an inspiration because when he was training Barcelona, that team with the small guys, with Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta, (Lionel) Messi, Pedro,” he added.
“I was at the time in Benfica in my academy years where I didn’t play because they thought that I wasn’t big enough, that I wasn’t strong enough.
“And me looking at that team and thinking, ‘these guys, they’re also not big, they’re also not strong. If they can do it, maybe one day I can do it’.
“So, Pep’s team was always an inspiration for me and then to join the club and to be able to be with him nine years and to be a part of this success, it’s fantastic.”
