Manchester City “don’t want” to sell midfielder Bernardo Silva to Arsenal or another Premier League club, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Daily Star reported at the weekend that the Gunners had joined Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in pursuing the Portuguese international but, writing in his Daily Briefing column, Romano said:

“I have zero information on Arsenal and Bernardo so far, to be honest. The Portugal international’s release clause is there for £50m but obviously, Man City don’t want Bernardo to stay in the Premier League and play for one of their rivals.”

“My expectation for Bernardo, if he does leave City this summer, is to go abroad. As I reported recently, Barcelona’s interest has always been there, and we know from what Joao Felix said publicly that he’s spoken to Bernardo about the move.”

City won’t have much say on which team Silva joins

As Romano points out, the 29-year-old has a buyout fee in his contract which is worth £50m. City agreed to include the clause when the player signed a three-year contract extension back in August last year.

It means the Premier League champions won’t have much control over which club Silva signs for if the fee is paid. It has, though, been assumed for quite some time that the player is keen on a new challenge abroad which would make a move to Arsenal very unlikely.

The midfielder remains a key player for Pep Guardiola

Silva scored the winner for the Cityzens in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Saturday, and he is clearly still an important member of the first-team squad.

The playmaker has made 42 appearances (including 36 starts) so far this season, scoring 11 goals and providing 5 assists. He would leave a big hole if he does decide to leave the Etihad this summer.