Bernardo Silva provided his old friend Joao Cancelo with a glowing review of City ahead of the full-back’s arrival from Juventus.
The Portuguese duo were team-mates at Benfica, where they progressed through the academy together to make their senior debuts in the same season and have remained close ever since.
So close, in fact, that Bernardo’s positive assessment of the Club and its fans proved to be a factor in Cancelo’s decision swap Turin for Manchester.
“We’ve spoken about it a few times, not regularly but occasionally,” he revealed.
“He told me that it is an amazing club and the atmosphere is great. That’s also one of the reasons why I’ve decided to come.”
Cancelo and Bernardo’s careers have shared a certain symmetry since they left the Stadium of Light, having both established themselves amongst Europe’s best in their respective positions and the 25-year-old has welcomed the opportunity to play alongside the midfielder again.
“He is a player I admire a lot,” he added.
“If I remember rightly, Bernardo and I played in the same team for around eight years.
“We were together at Benfica, so we were together for a while. It will help me and I’m very excited to play with him.”
