Bernardo Silva says Man City team-mates deserve more recognition, talks Benfica ambitions

Manchester, April 14: Bernardo Silva does not feel his Manchester City team-mates earn the sort of recognition their Liverpool counterparts do in terms of individual awards – and he has also revealed his desire to one day return to Benfica.

City accumulated 198 points over title-winning seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19 but Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk scooped the PFA Player of the Year award at the end of those respective campaigns.

Van Dijk also won the UEFA Best Player of the Year gong after the Reds won the Champions League last term under Jurgen Klopp.

Bernardo believes Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling have been underappreciated when it comes to individual prizes, claiming other clubs benefit by having "more power with the media and organisations that others".

"I think plenty of players deserve a lot more than what they get," he said during an Instagram Live with Bleacher Report.

"I'll give you an example: Fernandinho, and even Raheem Sterling from last season.

"Some clubs have more power with the media and organisations than others.

"Three seasons ago, we win the league, they (Liverpool) were like 30 points behind and Kevin De Bruyne had an unbelievable season. Mo Salah scored a lot of goals – he's a great player and I admire him a lot, I'm not saying otherwise – and they give the award to Mo Salah and not Kevin De Bruyne.

"This season again, Kevin De Bruyne has another unbelievable season, we're behind, but because Liverpool are champions one of them is probably winning the award again.

"I think the individual awards are very relative."

“LEAAAAAVE IT!!!! LEAAAAVE IT!!!!!” @DeBruyneKev pic.twitter.com/r4aZgzglaa

— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) February 19, 2020

The Portugal international was also asked about returning to play in his homeland at some stage in his career.

While in no rush to leave City, Silva hopes to join Benfica, the club he left to join Monaco before making a first-team appearance.

"I am enjoying my career a lot, I don't want to go back now but I don't want to go when I'm too old. I want to go help my team when I am in a good physical condition. I don't know the exact age - not too old but not now," he said.

"I'm a Benfica fan. I used to go to all the games with my dad, so my dream was always to play for Benfica. When I was 19 and playing for the second team, I didn't have the opportunity to play for the first team because the manager didn't want me there or think I was able to play for the first team.

"It was a huge disappointment for me to have to leave, go to Monaco to have a good career.

"Because I've never played for my team, I have this gap in my heart and I need to fill it. Not now obviously, but if they want me there, I definitely want to go back to Benfica one day."