Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella as a potential replacement for Bernardo Silva.
The Portuguese international has been linked with a move away from the Manchester club this summer, with the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal apparently looking at him.
While it’s been reported that the Citizens are keen to keep hold of Silva, who they paid £43m to sign back in 2017, they have apparently set their sights on another player they could sign should the 28-year-old end up leaving.
City eyeing Barella as Silva replacement
According to a recent report from Tuttomercatoweb, City see Barella as their first-choice replacement for Silva should he find himself leaving the club this summer.
The report also adds that Pep Guardiola is a big fan of the Italian and considers him to be a good fit for his City team.
The 26-year-old initially joined Inter on loan from fellow Italian club Cagliari Calcio back in the 2019 summer transfer window before securing a permanent deal just over a year later.
During his time with the previous Champions League finalists, who City beat 1-0 to win their first European title under Guardiola last month in Istanbul, the midfielder has made 187 appearances.
Across those appearances, Barella has scored 20 goals and delivered 44 assists in all competitions, highlighting how much of a useful attacking figure he can be from the middle of the pitch.
Described as a “top class” player by Jurgen Klopp, the Inter star played more minutes in Serie A than any other player at the club last season, making more progressive passes (214) and progressive carries (76) than any of his teammates.
Moving forward, we feel that if Silva does end up leaving City this summer, it would definitely be worth making an approach to Inter to see if they’d be willing to negotiate a deal for Barella.
