Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu reportedly wanted sign Portugal and Man City superstar Bernardo Silva this summer as an alternative to PSG ace Neymar.
As per the Express, Barca made a number of bids for the Brazilian international, as they looked to seal a deal to bring the forward back to the Nou Camp before September’s deadline.
The Blaugrana ultimately failed in their pursuit of the PSG superstar, and now, it’s been revealed that the club were eyeing up one of the Premier League’s best players should they have failed to bring Neymar back.
As per Don Balon, president Bartomeu wanted to bring Silva in from City as an alternative signing to Neymar, with the player’s price tag sitting at a cool €100M, a fair amount that Barca would’ve surely been able to afford.
In the end, Barca didn’t end up signing either Silva or Neymar during the summer window, as the Spanish giants opted to save their money for future windows instead.
However, given their current injury crisis, we’re sure they could’ve done with either Silva or Neymar moving to the Nou Camp in the summer.
Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi have all spent time on the sidelines so far this term due to injury, something that has lead to Barca having to rely on younger players like Ansu Fati and Carles Perez.
Silva would’ve been a brilliant signing for Barca to make, as the Portuguese international has proven over the past two years that he’s easily one of the best midfield players on the planet.
However, Barca ended up failing to sign the City talisman, despite Bartomeu’s wishes.