Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero said that his former teammate and FC Barcelona target Bernardo ... [+]
Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero said that his former teammate and FC Barcelona target Bernardo Silva deserves the right to decide his future during an interview with Stake.com
Mundo Deportivo reported that Silva is one of three players who Barca head coach Xavi demanded should stay at or join the club in order for him to see out his contract in the dugout until 2025.
For the past two summer transfer windows, the cash-strapped Catalans have been unable to pull off a coup for Silva.
In the next one, however, the Portuguese reportedly has a £50 million release clause though the Mancunians' all-time scorer Aguero said "I hope he stays at City".
"He's talented across the board and able to play many different roles. Bernardo knows how the team functions.
"All this being said, I think he deserves to choose his own future, and I hope Bernardo sees it in City," Aguero added.
Silva came into criticism for a soft penalty he hit straight down the middle at Andriy Lunin, during a Champions League quarterfinal second leg shootout that Real Madrid won 4-3 to advance to the last four.
Reacting to the clash, which finished 4-4 on aggregate, Aguero remarked: "Both games were very tight, I'll say this much."
"I think these are the finest teams in Europe, and they played a quarterfinal with the type of great football you expect from the final itself.
"The away leg at the Bernabeu saw both teams recovering from very tricky spots very well.
"[It was] a very even tie, and at the home leg at Etihad, City bounced back from an early setback and went on to have a dominant position for the remainder of the game.
"But, as we all know, Real put up a solid defence and City weren't able to capitalise on those opportunities.
"I knew that getting to penalties wasn't ideal, but Madrid played around that, got to that spot, and took the victory.
"I'm very proud for what City achieved, for staying true to their style, and for never giving up," Aguero stressed.
The man of the hour for Madrid is its top goalscorer Jude Bellingham.
Aguero said that the Englishman "had a solid match" in the second leg, "particularly in controlling the ball – we saw how important that was for Real's goal".
"A player of that stature can turn the tides of a game at any time. But City has players like that, we saw it in this tie.
"[Phil] Foden, [Josko] Gvardiol, Kevin [De Bruyne] – [they] all broke out to score too," Aguero concluded.
