Bernardo Silva credits good old-fashioned northern hospitality for success at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola‘s blue-eyed boy Bernardo Silva says old-fashioned northern hospitality helped him succeed at Manchester City whereas former Monaco team-mate Tiemoue Bakayoko struggled at Chelsea.

Guardiola has lavished praise on the ‘incredible’ Bernardo all season but while he will feature against Chelsea on Sunday, Bakayoko is at AC Milan on loan after one bad season at Stamford Bridge.

Portuguese international Bernardo says: ‘City is a fantastic club. Not only the players but the manager and all the staff welcomed me in the best way possible. I would say it was the best decision I could ever have made. I am very happy with the year-and-a-half I have played for Man City and hope it can continue for a long time.

Bernardo Silva (right) has been a revelation at Manchester City and is on great form 

‘Of course London is a fantastic city, but I like Manchester. I like the city and think people in the north of England are very kind and have treated me very well. I am very happy here, I don’t care about the rest (bright lights).

City are locked in a titanic Premier League battle with Liverpool and Spurs but Bernardo admits being kings of Europe is his top priority this season.

‘In my opinion the Champions League is the most prestigious competition in the world and this club has never won it,’ he says.

‘I don’t like to choose between competitions. We take very seriously the four of them, not only the Premier League, but in my opinion the Champions League is very special.’

The Portuguese said northern hospitality helped him to settle in quickly at the club

Bernardo was part of the Monaco side with World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe and Liverpool’s Fabinho that knocked City out of the 2017 Champions League.  

The diminutive playmaker also believes winning Europe’s showpiece tournament would take the club to another level.  

‘Of course because you don’t only play against English teams, you play against the best teams in Europe, in the world. Yeah it will give a big boost in terms of history and everything for this club. We are trying to do it.’