Clown, luxury, leader - Why Bernardo Silva has his smile back as Man City captain

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva is relishing the role of getting the team back to where he thinks they should be

Bernardo Silva has enjoyed being the clown at Manchester City. The butt of just about every joke in the squad since he arrived, Silva has worn his jester's hat like a crown since swapping the Monaco principality for Manchester.

It has made him loved too. Among fans and teammates, Silva quickly endeared himself and his Liverpool coffee gesture remains as iconic as one of his mazy Anfield dribbles.

"I say to Bernardo often you are 50 per cent clown, 50 per cent leader," said former City leader Vincent Kompany in 2019. "When he becomes 25 per cent clown, 75 per cent leader he will become the captain of this team."

It has taken six years but Silva is leading the club, handpicked by Pep Guardiola for the first time in the manager's career after the boss was left unhappy at what the players voted for last year. When that decision was taken, now-Bayern boss Kompany sent that quote to Silva to remind him of what he is capable of.

While not committing to the club beyond the expiry of his contract next summer, the 31-year-old is taking the responsibility seriously. He has already laid down ground rules for teammates and told them that he expects action from them without him needing to lead.

"It's a big honour, it's a big responsibility," he said as he prepares to lead the team out in the stadium that was his home for three seasons. "Eight-and-a-half years of experience of knowing exactly what Pep wants for this team.

"I've tried to behave in the best possible way. I like to have my little time to joke but when it's time to work it's time to work. I'm trying my best to put the team back to the level where they deserve to be.

"Man City was so successful in the last eight years not because one captain was really good but because we have a group of great leaders. Obviously as the first captain you have to make sure some things don’t happen - to create that environment - but what we’ve seen is a group of great characters.

"That is what you need. My job now is to try to create that energy, that chemistry back as a group of captains – me, Ruben, Rodri, Erling - so people behave in the right way in training and in games, arrive on time to training, train properly, be in good condition, take care of themselves. That is our job."

As serious as he is about getting City back on top, it feels important that Silva still finds time to joke. Around the club, he is regularly found with a smile on his face again after a difficult year when that wasn't always the case.

One of the only players to stay fit in an injury crisis, Silva was often targeted for criticism by fans as his reputation took a tumble during City's wretched run of results. His performances this season have been enough to justify his continued selection in addition to what he brings as a captain, and Guardiola was quick to bring the conversation back round to an appreciation of his talents as a footballer - something often overlooked among more eye-catching talents in the squad and the game.

"He cannot do better as a captain. Bernardo is one of the best players I ever trained," Guardiola said. "It has been a luxury for me, to have him these 10 years. He's just an extraordinary player, intelligent, smart.

"I don't know how many positions he can play in.1: I'm really, really happy to have him. And of course he accepted the role alongside Ruben, Rodri, Erling and the other ones. He's doing really well."

Silva was anointed as a future City player from the moment he dazzled them playing for Monaco in the Champions League eight years ago, and has not disappointed. Already a wonderful servant for the club, captaining them back to the heights he has scaled with them would be another crowning moment in his decorated career.

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