The Saudi Pro League is offering Bernardo Silva a staggering £800,000 per week pay in exchange for leaving Manchester City.
The Portuguese star is one of the Saudis’ newest top targets as they want to add more major summer players to their thriving league.
The 28-year-old Silva still has two years left on his two-year, £150,000-per-week deal with the Etihad, and Pep Guardiola’s Treble-winning team is anxious to cling onto him.
They were able to deter Barcelona’s long-term interest by putting him out of reach, and they have already rejected a sizeable offer from French rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
Silva wanted to play at the Nou Camp, but the struggling Spaniards chose Ilkay Gundogan, a teammate from City and a free agent, because of his lower price tag of £60 million.
Silva’s future is now uncertain as a result. He is eager to begin a brand-new chapter in his illustrious career, allowing the Saudis to begin their bold swoop.
Similar to Riyad Mahrez another City forward who is being pursued by Al Ittihad, the wealthy Middle Eastern country is prepared to pay a hefty salary in addition to a transfer fee of at least £70 million to lure the ex-Monaco player away.
The five-time Premier League champion would receive an annual salary of £41.6 million, paid for by the nation’s Public Investment Fund, more than five times what he earns in Manchester.
Silva, despite playing a crucial role in City’s supremacy in both the domestic and European markets last season, is not even among their top ten earnings, earning on par with rarely utilised first-team periphery players like Kalvin Phillips.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed, Al Hilal is believed to be the name of the Saudi club pursuing him.
We’ll have to wait and see if Silva, who has 83 caps for Portugal, will accept what amounts to a 400% wage boost and demand a transfer from City this summer.
If he leaves, he will follow in the footsteps of former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, Ruben Neves, and N’Golo Kante. Cristiano Ronaldo, the league’s first superstar acquisition, plays in Saudi Arabia.