Bernardo Silva says he ‘considered’ Saudi offers in the summer

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has revealed he considered leaving the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League last summer.

The Portugal international was a subject of strong interest from the Saudis who had earlier signed Riyad Mahrez from the English side.

Aside from the links to Saudi, the left-footed player was linked to Barcelona who eventually went on to sign Ilkay Gundigan on a free transfer.

According to Silva, he was not ready to forfeit the attention from the European game.

However, Silva decided against making a move to the Asian League as he was enjoying the buzz of playing European football.

“I’d lie if I said I didn’t think about the Saudi offers,” he told RTP.

“But what interested me was the heat of a UCL semi-final, [the] stadium going wild after scoring against Madrid or when we won the final.”

“I didn’t want to give up on that.”

In the current season, the 29-year-old has featured 13 times for City across all competitions, scoring three goals and providing three assists.