Real Madrid have signed former Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva on a free transfer.
The 31-year-old’s contract at City expired at the end of last season, which brought to a close his trophy-laden nine-year stay at the club.
Silva has signed a two-year deal at Real, who have already added Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella in a £51.8m and extended the contract of centre-back Antonio Rudiger following the return of head coach Jose Mourinho.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid also made offers to Silva, but he opted to accept Real Madrid’s.
Silva scored 76 goals in 460 appearances for City after joining from Monaco in 2017. He played a key part in winning six Premier League titles and one Champions League among 16 major trophies during his time at the club.
Silva captained City in his final season and played in all 38 of their Premier League matches as they finished second, winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
He is set to feature for Portugal at the World Cup in their opening Group K match against DR Congo on Wednesday evening.
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Bernardo Silva reflects on nine years at Manchester City and explains his decision to leave the club at the end of the season. Credit: CityTV.
Real Madrid have made a busy start to the summer with deals for free agent Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries set to be announced after landing Cucurella on a six-year deal.
The fee for the defender is £47.5m plus £4.3m in add-ons, with the potential to rise to £51.8m in total.
Chelsea signed Cucurella from Brighton four years ago for £63m. The 27-year-old made 163 appearances for the club, winning the Conference League and Club World Cup.
Multiple clubs were interested in signing him but the former Barcelona full-back wanted to join Real Madrid. He had been linked with a return to Barca, as well as Atletico Madrid and Manchester City.
Cucurella’s move to Real Madrid is totally separate from any possible move for midfielder Enzo Fernandez to the same club. Fernandez said in an interview back in April that he would welcome living in Madrid.
Analysis: Real Madrid’s shift in transfer strategy under Mourinho
Jose Mourinho has made a fast start in the transfer window at Real Madrid despite the World Cup being under way with the free transfer of Bernardo Silva following hot on the heels of Marc Cucurella’s £51.8m signing from Chelsea.
Real Madrid’s newly re-elected president Florentino Perez has also lined up the £17m signing of right-back Denzel Dumfries from Inter and the free transfer of centre-back Ibrahima Konate who is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the month.
The signings of Silva, 31, Cucurella, 27, Dumfries, 30, and Konate, 27, show there has been a clear change of transfer strategy at Real Madrid. The focus has shifted from young players with promise to experienced players who are ready to be thrown straight in.
Cucurella, for instance, is the first signing over 25 to have arrived at Real Madrid for a transfer fee of more than £2m since the summer of 2019, when Eden Hazard was signed from Chelsea in a deal worth well in excess of £100m.
Real Madrid have brought in experienced players in the intervening period but only on free transfers. Silva and Konate are just the latest following on from Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Last summer the average age of Real Madrid’s signings – Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras, Franco Mastantuono and Trent Alexander-Arnold – was just over 21 years old compared to nearly 29 years old in this window so far.
Mourinho has often relied more on tried-and-tested players during his career but because of the pressure everyone at Real Madrid is under after failing to win LaLiga or the Champions League for the past two seasons, experience is required more than ever.
Real Madrid’s business is expected to continue beyond the four signings already secured. Perez made big promises during his re-election campaign about making a mega-signing this summer, and none of the players they have signed match that description.
