“I’m a Benfica fan” – Bernardo Silva sets sights on unfinished business at former club

Manchester City playmaker Bernardo Silva has opened the door on a return to childhood club Benfica.

The 25-year-old hailed from the Portuguese club’s ranks but made just three senior appearances before leaving for Monaco in 2014, initially on loan and then permanently.

Silva’s Benfica stint: Five things to know…

• Silva emerged from Benfica’s esteemed academy in 2013 but mustered just three first-team appearances before leaving for Monaco.
• Despite earning the Segunda Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year award for Benfica B in 2013/14, Silva was moved on to Ligue 1.
• The Portuguese flourished at the Stade Louis II and formed a key part of Monaco’s famous 2016/17 Ligue 1 title win.
• This prompted Man City to splashed over £40m for his services in 2017 and he has since become an illustrious part of Pep Guardiola’s furniture.
• The 25-year-old has now left the door ajar for a future return to Benfica, his childhood club.

Having relocated to the Monegasques, Silva quickly established an important role in then manager Leonardo Jardim’s first-team plans.

Alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Fabinho and Benjamin Mendy, Monaco pipped PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2016/17 before the club’s ranks were plundered.

Man City made the double swoop for Silva and Mendy that summer, with the former having gone on to become an invaluable member of Guardiola’s title-winners.

Despite unprecedented success in the North West, Silva has welcomed a future return to his boyhood club, whom he failed to leave a significant mark on during his formative years.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Silva told Bleacher Report when asked if he would welcome a return to Portugal in the near future.

“What I can tell you is not in one, two, three or four years, for sure, because I am in a great club.

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“I am enjoying my career a lot, I don’t want to go back now but I don’t want to go when I’m too old. I want to go help my team when I am in a good physical condition. I don’t know the exact age – not too old but not now.

“I’ll explain a bit more why I want to do that. I’m a Benfica fan, I used to go to all the games with my dad so my dream was always to play for Benfica and when I was 19 and playing for the second team I didn’t have the opportunity to play for the first team because the manager didn’t want me there or think I was able to play for the first team.

“It was a huge disappointment for me to have to leave, go to Monaco to have a good career. Because I’ve never played for my team, I have this gap in my heart and I need to fill it. Not now, obviously, but if they want me there I definitely want to go back to Benfica one day.”