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Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva was asked about his future with less than 12 months remaining on his contract
Bernardo Silva has already decided whether he will be leaving Manchester City next summer when his contract runs out.
The 31-year-old was made captain by Pep Guardiola this season as the manager looked to restore some aspects of leadership that he felt had been lost last year. Kyle Walker started the campaign as skipper but left in January to join AC Milan before moving to Burnley in the summer and his replacement Kevin De Bruyne struggled with injuries.
Silva earned more respect from his manager for never going hiding during City's slump in form last season and is putting everything into getting the team back to where they want to be. Three points in Monaco on Wednesday will give them two wins from two in the Champions League and give them the best possible start as they look to avoid the embarrassment of failing to make the knockout rounds last year.
However, it is unclear how long Silva will be sticking around for. His contract runs out in 2026, he has long been linked with a return to boyhood club Benfica while this week there has been speculation about a move to the Saudi Pro League.
Silva said that his mind his made up - but he will be putting his energy this season into getting City back to where they need to be.
"I know exactly what I'm going to do but it's not the time to talk about it. It's time to focus on Man City, to try to do my best to try to put the club back where it belongs," he said on his return to former club Monaco.
"We know that we've had a lot of captains who have left in the past but it's the guys who have the most experience to pass it to the young guys and hopefully they will be the next ones to pass that experience. I'm focused on doing a proper season with Man City and doing as well as possible to perform and bring back the team to the level it deserves to be.
"As first captain you need to make sure that some things don't happen and create that kind of environment but what we see and what we saw in the past in this group is great characters and that's what you need.
"My job now is to try to create that energy and chemistry back as a group of captains, so people behave in the right way in training and games, arrive early, train properly, take care of themselves.
"That's our job but in terms of responsibility you need more than just one or two or three. We were really good in the past because we had 10 or 15 players like that that behaved as captains and that's what you need."
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