Bernardo Silva represents Man City's greatest unknown heading into the new Premier League season

Notwithstanding the Marc Cucurella saga, Manchester City have had a pretty successful summer in the transfer market.

City got their business done early doors when it came to the signings of Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega Moreno, while they have brought in over £230m in player sales so far this calendar year.

However, one point of discomfort that has lingered all summer is the future of Bernardo Silva. For weeks reports have emanated from Spain that Barcelona are prioritising the Portuguese midfielder, with some even claiming that Bernardo has agreed personal terms with the Catalan club.

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It seems extremely unlikely that City would allow Bernardo to leave on the eve of the new Premier League season, but there is still a question mark hanging over the player's head in terms of exactly how he will fit into Pep Guardiola's side in 2022/23.

That seems odd to say given that Bernardo is arguably one of the first names of Guardiola's team sheet. The manager and plenty of City players have spoken about how important Bernardo is to the team, and his performances last season more than backed that up.

Last term Bernardo fairly consistently played as a number eight in a 4-3-3 system, usually alongside one of Ilkay Gundogan or Kevin De Bruyne with Rodri sitting deep behind them. But after just three pre-season games this summer it is already clear that City will not be quite so married to the same set-up this time around, partly because of the arrival of Erling Haaland and the need to adapt the system to accommodate an out-and-out striker.

While Bernardo will no doubt reprieve his usual role