Manchester City made the first marquee signing of the summer last Friday afternoon, beating off a number of suitors to acquire the highly-rated Bernardo Silva from Monaco for a reported fee of £43m.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the 22-year-old insisted that the lure of playing under Pep Guardiola was key to his decision of signing a five-year deal at the Etihad:
“If he is not the best coach in the world, he is one of the best. Of course, when you have the opportunity of being trained by Guardiola, you don’t say no. As we all know, what he did with Barcelona and Bayern Munich was amazing and we expect also here that he will win titles. It’s great to have the chance to work with him and to have this opportunity. Nowadays if you don’t work hard, even if you’re one of the best you don’t succeed. It’s not only defenders who have to defend or attackers who have to attack. It’s a team and we all have to do everything.”
The History
A product of the Benfica youth system, Silva was handed his debut for the club’s B team in August 2013.
Netting seven times in 38 appearances, he was voted the Segunda Liga Player of the Year that season and also made his debut for the senior side, thanks to a 10-minute sub appearance in the Portuguese Cup.
Yet that was to be his only outing in a Benfica shirt. Initially farmed out to Monaco on loan in August 2014, Silva made the deal permanent just five months later in a campaign that produced nine goals and three assists in 36 Ligue 1 appearances.
Last season, the Portugal international was instrumental in steering Monaco to the French title – playing predominantly as an inverted winger on the right of a 4-4-2 formation, he supplied eight goals and nine assists over 37 outings.
Meanwhile, his performances in the Champions League also caught the eye, netting away to Spurs and providing an assist against Manchester City as Leonardo Jardim’s side claimed a place in the semi-finals.
On the international stage, Silva steered Portugal to the semi-finals of the 2013 UEFA European U19 Championships and was subsequently named among the top 10 talents in Europe by reporters.
Handed his senior debut in March 2015, he has since played 12 times for his country and found the net on one occasion, though injury forced him to miss last summer’s Euro 2016 competition.
The Prospects
Watching him in action, it’s easy to see just why the new boy is regarded as a carbon copy of namesake David Silva.
Standing five foot eight, the Portuguese international is far from physically imposing but boasts an ability to almost dance his way past opponents with the ball, remaining calm under pressure and keeping possession in the tightest of situations – vital ingredients to succeed in a Guardiola side, where ball retention is fundamental.
Silva’s versatility could be key to claiming regular starts – although he’s mainly shone from the right flank, he offers an option on the left or also in a central support role. Indeed, given Guardiola’s penchant for player reinvention, there’s even an argument that the new arrival has the qualities to succeed in central midfield in a 4-3-3 set-up, similar to the likes of Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta.
Should Guardiola continue to alternate with the 4-1-4-1/4-2-3-1 formations – preferred towards the end of the season – then there’s no shortage of options at his disposal for those four or five attacking positions. The likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling will all be jostling for starting berths.
Arguably, Sterling’s minutes are the most in question, particularly after Jesus underlined his own versatility to deliver a goal and assist against both West Brom and Watford from a role on the right flank in City’s final two league fixtures.
In terms of underlying statistics, Silva’s averages of 46.7 minutes per shot and key pass weren’t overly eye-catching in a Monaco side that scored 107 times on their way to last year’s Ligue 1 crown.
Indeed, furthering those comparisons with David Silva, the new boy does have a reputation for dictating matters on the pitch only to provide a number of “pre-assists” or “key contributions”, ie laying on the pass before the final pass prior to a goal. Nonetheless, only De Bruyne (29.3 minutes) and Silva (35.4) exceed that frequency of chances created among City players last season.
Encouragingly for Guardiola, the 22-year old’s 13.3% goal conversion rate in Ligue 1 last term – while not overly clinical – still exceeded the likes of De Bruyne (7%), Silva (8.3%) and Sterling (10.9%) in a season where City had more shots inside the penalty area (395) than any side, but claimed only third for both shots on target (211) and goals (80) and fourth for goal conversion (12.6%).
Expected to come in around the 8.5 to 9.5 mark in Fantasy Premier League, Silva’s arrival looks likely to improve City’s attacking prospects as Guardiola goes for the title in his second year at the helm.
Yet with Jesus near certain to offer a cheaper option to Aguero for our three-man frontlines, our priorities among Guardiola’s regulars are destined to lie elsewhere.
Even in the City midfield, Silva could initially face a tough task to convince those looking to double up on the Etihad outfit for 2017/18.
De Bruyne served up 21 assists last season and hit the woodwork eight times – if the Belgian could find an end product, he could easily better his fifth-placed finish from 2016/17.
Sane is another to monitor, too. After starting four of the first 21 Gameweeks, the German international was named in the first XI in 16 of the final 17 league matches – during that period, he sat first for touches in the box (125) among FPL midfielders and joint-fifth for shots in the box, with 26.
While there are no doubts over the new boy’s abilities, with many Fantasy managers considering a Jesus-Harry Kane partnership up top, it remains to be seen whether Silva can emerge as a popular source of City coverage and cement his place as an FPL big hitter from the off.
Indeed, with City also being heavily linked with a move for Alexis Sanchez, Guardiola’s summer shopping spree could have a significant impact on our assessment of the Fantasy landscape by the season kick-off.
