Barcelona’s interest in Bernardo Silva has been well-known for several weeks, and following the departure of Ousmane Dembele to Paris Saint-Germain, which should be confirmed this weekend, they could make their move for the Portuguese international.
Even despite Dembele’s departure, Barcelona are extremely unlikely to have the financial muscle to sign Bernardo permanently this summer, especially with Financial Fair Play being a major concern.
As a result, they are looking to sign Bernardo on loan this summer, but with a mandatory buy option which would come into effect at the end of the upcoming season, as reported by MD.
PSG used this strategy when they signed Kylian Mbappe from Monaco in 2017. They signed him on loan that summer, but with a mandatory buy option in order to avoid breaking FFP rules, and Barcelona want to do the same with Bernardo.
It remains to be seen whether this is something that Manchester City are happy to accept, or whether Barcelona are even able to fit Bernardo’s wages into their pay structure, which could be very difficult to do.
Barcelona need to be quick in signing a new right back and left wing becuase the transfer dateline seem to be close and the absent of this position might weaken the squad.