Warren Zaire-Emery, a midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain, is a favorited of Pep Guardiola, who suggested a deal to have Bernardo Silva leave Manchester City in exchange for the signing of the 17-year-old.
This summer, the Portugal international was extensively connected with a transfer to the club in Paris; however, no deal materialized, and he instead signed a new contract with the Etihad. A £50 million release clause in the new contract, however, has since come to light.
Guardiola disregarded his own rule of letting players leave the club, and Silva was crucial to City’s treble-winning season the previous year. The City manager has never prevented players from leaving the Etihad Stadium if they so choose in the past.
In fact, when Raheem Sterling moved Chelsea in the summer of 2022 and Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko were permitted to join Arsenal, Guardiola declared: “When you don’t want to stay and want to leave, you cannot stay.” The strategy used when Leroy Sane first left for Bayern Munich was the same.
Silva has long expressed interest in leaving City, despite still having a significant position under Guardiola. Despite not having the stardom of Erling Haaland or Kevin De Bruyne, Silva continues to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. He is an important member of the starting lineup and consistently comes up with major plays.
According to a report in RMC Sport, Guardiola was apprehensive about letting him leave this summer, but in talks with PSG about a transfer, the City manager said that young midfielder Zaire-Emery would travel the opposite way in any possible trade.
The 17-year-old has played 38 times for the French club since making his debut a year ago. He is mostly a defensive midfielder and has a noticeable physique and great technical skills. He has also joined France’s under-21 squad.
At the age of 16 years and 330 days in February, Zaire-Emery scored the youngest goal in PSG history. Thirteen days later, he made history by being the youngest player to start a Champions League knockout match. He represents PSG’s shift to a younger core of athletes with ties to the French city.
Last month, Silva signed a contract extension with City, although it was only for one more year, pushing the end of his deal from the summer of 2025 to the beginning of 2026. In order to reflect his prominence on the squad, he also obtained a pay increase, making him one of the highest-paid players at the organization.