The Portuguese attacking midfielder has agreed a new one-year deal which will keep him at the Etihad until the summer of 2026.
Having joined from Monaco in 2017, Bernardo has gone on to play a huge role in what has been the most successful period in the Club’s history, with City winning 14 major titles under the leadership of manager Pep Guardiola.
He also proved pivotal in last season’s historic Treble winning campaign which saw City lift the Premier League. FA Cup and a maiden Champions League crown.
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However, far from resting on his laurels, Bernardo says the hunger and desire burns just as brightly for him and his team-mates – with the goal of seeking to secure what would be an unprecedented fourth successive league title adding extra special impetus to the new campaign.
“When you think that no-one ever did it before, if you do it, it always makes you feel a bit more special in terms of we created something in history,” Bernardo pointed out.
“And if we do it, it’s not going to be easy for anyone else to do it again, because this country, the number of teams that fight for this title every year is just ridiculous.
“It doesn’t happen anywhere else. And we’re very motivated to achieve that.
“We heard that four in a row in the Premier League was never done before.
“So, we want to try that because it’s so tough. People now, they take it for granted because we won five in six. But it’s so, so tough every year.
“And if you guys remember two of those titles were just a difference of one point and then the last game scoring (late on).
“I remember the Aston Villa game (in the last game of 2022/23) when we were losing 2-0, in the minute 65 or 70. I don’t remember.
“So, it’s not easy to win it. And we’re going to try and keep making history and putting the name of this team as one of the best ever of course. That means something for us.”
City’s extraordinary sequence of success and all-round consistency means there is even greater pressure and expectancy on the team – as well as an increased desire from our rivals to try and find a way to overhaul us.
For Bernardo however that merely provides a sense of even greater desire and hunger to replicate all that has gone before in his memorable six years at the Etihad.
“Obviously, the other teams, they will try and find new ways of beating us because we’ve won so much in the last few years,” Bernardo acknowledged.
“So, they will try to improve their teams. They will try to do the best and we just have to focus on ourselves. That’s the main thing. That’s the only thing that we can control.
“I think that we have keep doing well the things that we did very well last season. So maintain that level, maintain as well the ambition because that’s the most important thing because the quality is still here, the team is almost the same.
“So if the anger levels are still the same, the chances of us winning again are high knowing that our rivals are better this season. But yeah, we can do it.”
