Last summer has been one of Bernardo Silva's toughest in recent years.
Although Manchester City won the championship, he finished a pretty mediocre season personally, his Euro with Portugal was a failure with a relegation already in the quarter-finals and he heard reports that the team wants to include him in the deal to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham.
Silva knew that at City the competition is uncompromising, certainly with Pep Guardiola standing on the lines.
He knew that one season at Etihad, where you did not stand out could lead you to other districts in European football.
Silva knew and was silent.
Now, half a year later, he is the Blues' best player, perhaps on his way to becoming a player this season in the Premier League.
Suddenly a player who is due to end his contract in the summer, is close to getting a new and upgraded contract.
Silva's professional change and resurgence comes first and foremost because of his acting intelligence and his ability to play multiple roles.
Silva spent much of his first three years at Manchester playing as a right-winger with an upside-down leg.
Sometimes, last season, he took on the fake nine role because of Sergio Aguero's long absence.
This year, when Jack Grillish signed, Bernardo returned to play in his favorite position, in which he also broke in Monaco, as number 8, a position from which he endangers the goal the most, which puts him at the top of the scoring table and player with the highest score so far.
After 20 games this season in the league, he scored seven goals and equaled his record from the 2018-19 season, then reached that amount in 36 games.
"Each player has his own characteristics, obviously I like to play in the middle more than anything else but it is important that I have the ability to do what is asked of me," he stated.
In addition, according to Whoscored, the 27-year-old player provides 1.6 key dedications, making him a real threat to rival defense.
"Pep Guardiola has a little bit of everything"
Professional matters were not the only things that bothered Silva.
Even when he had been in Manchester for a number of years he did not find himself, finding it difficult to adapt to the city, the environment, the team, the style of play and also the demands of Pep Guardiola.
In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper "A BOLA" Silva revealed the improvement in his relationship with his coach.
"I think Guardiola has a bit of everything. I'm not going to name names, but I had very good coaches tactically and very weak human relations or very good human relations and very weak tactically. Pep demands a lot but is also attentive to the players."
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"Demands a lot", Photo: Reuters
Also, Silva recently decided to disengage from football at times when he is not playing or training.
He started learning to play the piano, adopted a dog with his partner, improved his cooking ability and decided to take a mental load off himself.
"I try not to watch a lot of games. I spend time with my family or friends and take care of peace of mind."
With a record of 11 consecutive league victories and after opening a ten-point gap from the Blues, City will host Thomas Tuchel's side in a bid to finally bury the championship title.
In the win over Chelsea in the first round in September, Silva had no choice but to open in the center of the link alongside Rodry and was among the standouts on the pitch.
Now that he's at his peak, the position he will play in on Saturday is not really important.
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