Benfica presidential candidate João Noronha Lopes has revealed that a contract offer for Manchester City club captain Bernardo Silva is on the table should he wish to make the move back to Portugal.
Silva has entered the final 12 months of his contract and it has been made clear a few times that he wanted leave, mostly due to the climate and being away from family for a long time.
But now as he enters his ninth season at the club and his first as captain, his hometown club are seemingly waiting for him to join them for free at the end of the season.
Benfica presidential candidate, João Noronha Lopes is preparing a move for Bernardo Silva. A contract is drafted and ready to be signed from January 1, when Silva will be able to formally negotiate with other clubs with his #ManCity contract expiring in June 2026.…
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) September 11, 2025
Noronha Lopes' plan
The candidate is using the promise to bring Bernardo back to the club as one of his leading arguments as to why he should be elected and so whether any contact between the player and the club has been made is unclear at this stage.
Silva left his boyhood club in 2014 after failing to breakthrough to the first team, but now over 10 years later he could be set for a return to Benfica at the end of his current contract.
Lopes did hint at a possible move for the Portuguese midfielder in January, however it seems unlikely as this current stage, especially with Bernardo being the newly appointed captain of the club.
Other City legends such as David Silva and Fernandinho have been given the armband in their final season and so could that be another sign that this is the farewell year for the 31-year-old.
Bernardo's love for Benfica
He joined his boyhood club when he was just seven years old and he stayed there for 12 years before leaving to join Monaco.
Silva only managed three substitute appearances for the senior team but has always been open about his wish to play for them again for the first team, which he was unable to do properly the first time around.
In 2019 Bernardo spoke to the BBC about his desire to one day return to Benfica to fulfil his dream for playing for 'his club.'
“I always said I need to fill a gap I still have, because I never played for Benfica. It’s my club, one day I’ll do it."
He went on to say how everyone dreams to play for the team that you grow up supporting and so he is no different with how he wants to play for his team, Benfica.
The contract situation
Now that Silva has entered his final 12 months, City will be preparing to lose the player for free; a player who has had interest in the past from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, but no one has ever be willing to pay the fee that has been asked to acquire the Portuguese international.
From January he will be allowed to talk to any club he wants about a move in the summer for free once his contract with City is up. It seems unlikely that he will move anywhere other than Benfica though, especially with the clear intentions of one of the presidential candidates.
"He embodies everything I want for Benfica: identity, a winning culture, and he's a true Benfica fan. And I can assure you that we won't stop here."
