Bernardo Silva wants to leave Manchester City this summer and Arsenal could be banking on Mikel Arteta’s good relationship with the player to try and sign him for less than James Maddison according to the papers, despite that all being very unlikely.

10 BERNARDO SILVA POR FOOTBALL : Portugal vs France - UEFA EURO, EM, Europameisterschaft,Fussball 2020 - 23/06/2021 AnthonyBIBARD/FEP/Panoramic
10 BERNARDO SILVA POR FOOTBALL : Portugal vs France – UEFA EURO, EM, Europameisterschaft,Fussball 2020 – 23/06/2021 AnthonyBIBARD/FEP/Panoramic

Leicester City originally wanted around £60m for James Maddison but now Brendan Rodgers sees the pound signs flashing after watching Jack Grealish go from Aston Villa to Manchester City for £100m. Now, Rodgers is comparing the pair.

If Mikel Arteta could have anyone, he would sign Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid, but it’s not at all clear what is going on there. The story has been back and forth between ‘staying’ and ‘being sold to raise funds’ so many times I’m surprised most journalists covering it don’t have whiplash.

Given the outlay that would be required to land either Maddison or Odegaard, Arsenal are now said to be engaged in talks over Bernardo Silva, who would likely cost even more.

https://twitter.com/pedrogva6/status/1424911043629928452

A few days back, some sites were getting a little excited, putting Silva’s desire to leave together with comments he made about Mikel Arteta when the Spaniard left for Arsenal.

https://twitter.com/BernardoCSilva/status/1208154819581665280

Now, however, it seems like there might be a little bit more to the rumours than just some hacks putting two and two together to come up with a juicy rumour. That being said, just because Arsenal are interested in Silva, it doesn’t automatically follow that he will be interested in Arsenal, especially with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid said to be keen. Besides, what sense does it make to leave City for Arsenal at this point in time?

So those three options Arsenal are apparently chasing are:

  • Martin Odegaard, 22, valued at £36m, Real Madrid want around £42m (€50m), has two years left on his contract, and has played 14 Premier League games. May or may not be for sale and likely to be a late decision towards the end of the window.
  • James Maddison, 24, valued at £49.5m, Leicester City want £60m+, has three years left on his contract, and has played 98 Premier League games. Leicester will sell for the right price and Maddison is said to be keen.
  • Bernardo Silva, 27, valued at £63m, Manchester City have not indicated what they want for him, has four years left on his contract, and has played 131 Premier League games. Will probably leave City but will likely go to Spain.

On that basis alone, Maddison would seem the most likely and the one that makes the most sense.