Barcelona president Joan Laporta claims that he had sealed an agreement to sign Bernardo Silva before he joined Manchester City.
The Portugal star could leave the Blues this summer having held talks with the La Liga champions last year, albeit to no avail. The 28-year-old is contracted at 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.
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In January, Laporta was adamant that Barcelona would "not pay €80m for Bernardo" 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.
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. Meanwhile, City teammate Ilkay Gundogan has also been linked with an exit to Barcelona.
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 mass debt within La Liga finance rules.
It means Gundogan may be a more appealing option than Bernardo, 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.
He has also been tentatively linked with a move to Barcelona, albeit is in the same contract situation as Bernardo.
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