Man City can't ignore new problem after Bernardo Silva announcement

Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City at the end of the season and a problem will emerge for the Blues soon

Despite claims to the contrary, Pep Guardiola has completed several successful rebuilds during his time at Manchester City. The Blues were guilty of not refreshing enough last season but this year, we have seen signs of City moulding into a new team to challenge across the board for seasons to come.

That regeneration was shown by the activity in the last two transfer windows. Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki began the wave of fresh talent before Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo joined the party in one of the most impressive January transfer windows in recent history.

Kevin De Bruyne's departure was confirmed at the end of last season with Ederson, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan exiting with him. The quartet made up a huge chunk of the experience in the City dressing room. Their exits left the leadership group thin on the ground.

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City readjusted though with Bernardo Silva named captain, Rodri, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland becoming the vice captains while the likes of John Stones remained a strong voice in the dressing room. Heading into next season, the Blues could have just two of those players remaining on their books. Bernardo will leave after Pep Lijnders confirmed his farewell on Saturday.

Stones will more than likely follow suit and Rodri's flirtation with Real Madrid during the international break may not have confirmed his departure this summer, but at least set the countdown for his eventual exit. Remaining will be Haaland and Dias. The latter will likely take the armband and City will need new names in the leadership group.

Guehi and Donnarumma have captaincy experience with Crystal Palace and Italy respectively. However, the duo only signed this season and a promotion into the leadership group may be too much, too soon.

You would want Phil Foden to be knocking on the door of that responsibility by now. But, this season has not panned out the way he wanted it to and, with his contract expiring in 2027, remarkably we don't know for certain where his future lies.

Losing experienced heads in the dressing room is a major problem for City. If you look at Arsenal, they should be flying towards their first Premier League title since 2004 and a first trophy, barring Community Shields, since the 2019/20 season.

And yet, when these big occasions to win silverware arrive, they struggle to get over the line. When City beat the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final, it was a prime example of how important it is to have players who have been there and done it.

That Wembley win has done wonders for City's confidence, as shown on Saturday, but this new group of players are not ready to go it alone just yet. They still need those wiser heads to guide them.

Bernardo leaving in the summer has created a hole in the leadership group that City can fill, for now. But, between now and the summer of 2027, the Blues must hope players like Guehi and Donnarumma are ready to step up and be the role models for the next generation of stars.

You cannot buy experience at an elite level, it is only with learned experiences that a team reaches the dominant heights City want to achieve.