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Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva is said to have decided to part ways with the club at the end of this season, with reports in Spain suggesting talks are at an 'advanced' stage with another team. The future of the Portuguese international has been a topic of speculation as he approaches the final stretch of his contract at the Etihad.

With just four months left in the season, the 31-year-old has often been linked with a return to his childhood club Benfica, and there have also been rumours about a potential move to the Saudi Pro League. However, Spanish outlet Nacional claims that Silva has 'already communicated his desire to move on', and his top choice is believed to be Barcelona.

He reportedly views Barcelona as both a 'personal and professional dream'. The report suggests that Barca manager Hansi Flick has had Silva's name 'on the table for months,' and the midfielder would be willing to accept a pay cut to join the Catalan giants next season.

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Barcelona are eager to bolster their squad without breaking the bank, particularly with a player who can step up when Pedri is out of action. The young star has frequently carried the weight for Barcelona, leading to physical issues.

Meanwhile, El Chiringuito TV journalist Nico Rodriguez has shed light on Silva's supposed decision, stating: "Bernardo has taken the decision to end his cycle at Manchester City after nine years. He has won a lot and has been very happy in Manchester.

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"He is an important player in Europe and for personal/family reasons, he has come to the decision to take up another project [in his career]. I don't know if it's at Barcelona or not but this is the information I have."

Last September, Silva acknowledged he'd already made his decision but insisted it wasn't the appropriate moment to make it public, as his priority remained helping City secure silverware this campaign.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do but it's not the time to talk about it. It's time to focus on Man City, to try to do my best to try to put the club back where it belongs," he said.

"We know that we've had a lot of captains who have left in the past, but it's the guys who have the most experience to pass it to the young guys and hopefully they will be the next ones to pass that experience.

"I'm focused on doing a proper season with Man City and doing as well as possible to perform and bring back the team to the level it deserves to be.

"As first captain you need to make sure that some things don't happen and create that kind of environment but what we see and what we saw in the past in this group is great characters and that's what you need.

"My job now is to try to create that energy and chemistry back as a group of captains, so people behave in the right way in training and games, arrive early, train properly, take care of themselves."

However, for the time being, Silva is concentrating on performing for Pep Guardiola'ssquad, with their next match in the Champions League against Bodø/Glimt scheduled for today (Tuesday, 5:45pm).