Bernardo Silva says he and Rúben Dias tried to stop Manchester City from missing out on João Neves in 2024, only to watch the midfielder head to Paris instead.
Silva made the revelation in an interview with DAZN as he prepares to leave City after nine years, a timing that gives the story a sharper edge. He said he and Dias were with Neves around Euro 2024 in Germany, knew the Benfica midfielder was close to joining PSG and began calling City to urge the club not to let him slip away.
Neves ultimately signed for PSG for 65 million euros at the age of 19, and two seasons into his spell in Paris he has become one of Luis Enrique’s pillars. Silva’s point was not subtle: he and Dias saw a player they believed was ready for the top level, and they wanted City to act before the deal was gone.
City, though, had other ideas. Silva said the club already had other midfield priorities and decided not to move forward for Neves at the time, despite the push from two Portugal internationals who had seen him up close in training and for their country. He suggested City might now have a little regret, and the record gives that thought some weight: the club later spent 115 million euros on three midfielders, including Ilkay Gündogan’s return from Barcelona, Nico González from Porto after Rodri’s serious injury, and Tijjani Reijnders from Milan one year ago.
That is the friction in the story. City did not ignore midfield entirely, but it chose a different order of business in the same window and passed on a teenager Silva believed was impossible to miss. Nico González has played little and may yet leave, while Neves has settled into Paris as a key figure. Silva is leaving City himself now, but his remarks leave one question hanging over a transfer decision that may have looked ordinary at the time and sharper only in hindsight: whether City will ever get another chance at the player it decided not to chase.
