Rui Faria's Regret Over Bernardo Silva Transfer to Manchester United
Manchester United’s summer is already thick with change. A new hierarchy, a reshaped squad, Michael Carrick preparing for his first full season in charge and trying to close the gap on Arsenal and a changing Manchester City. Yet one story from the recent past cuts right to the heart of what has gone wrong at Old Trafford in the market.
Rui Faria says he tried to bring Bernardo Silva to United in 2017. United said no. City said yes. The rest is nine years of regret.
The transfer that never was
Faria, Jose Mourinho’s long-time lieutenant, followed him to Manchester in 2016, extending a partnership that had stretched across 17 years and six clubs, including two stints at Chelsea. When Mourinho arrived, United were supposed to be arming one of the game’s most ruthless winners with the best talent available.
In 2017, Faria believed he had found exactly that.
“Bernardo Silva is a fantastic player. I remember recommending him to Manchester United in 2017, when he was 22,” Faria told AS. “We tried, but it wasn’t possible, and he ended up at their city rivals.”
United hesitated. City didn’t. Silva crossed to the blue side of town and proceeded to define an era.
Six Premier League titles. A Champions League crown in 2023. Season after season of influence in the most dominant English side of the modern era. Every time he drifted in off the right, wriggled away from pressure, or dictated a game in midfield, he was a reminder of a decision United never made.
City’s loss, Madrid’s gain
This summer, the cycle turned again. Silva, after completing that glittering spell at City, walked away as a free agent. His destination? Real Madrid.
Faria, watching from a distance now as a technical observer for UEFA, has no doubts about what the European champions are getting.
“If he’s fit, he can be a game-changer for Real Madrid. He’s a player with tremendous technical ability, a great understanding of the game, and exceptional intelligence,” he said.
Mourinho, returning to the Bernabeu for a second spell after his original tenure between 2010 and 2013, finally has the playmaker Faria once tried to place in his hands in Manchester. The partnership that never materialised in the Premier League could now shape La Liga.
Madrid already have the power and pace. Silva offers something else: control, subtlety, the ability to tilt a title race with one pass or one clever movement between the lines. Mourinho has chased that kind of influence throughout his career. Now he has it, in white, not red.
United’s sliding-door moment
For United, the story lands at an awkward time. Carrick is plotting how to chase down Arsenal and a City side that will look very different without Pep Guardiola, Silva and possibly Rodri when the new Premier League season kicks off. The landscape is shifting at the top, and United can sense an opening.
But Faria’s revelation underlines why they have spent a decade trying to catch up. The club had a clear recommendation from one of the game’s sharpest coaching minds, a man who knew Mourinho inside out and understood exactly what his team needed. The deal never happened. City moved decisively and reaped the rewards.
Faria’s own United story was brief. He spent exactly two years at Old Trafford under Mourinho before stepping away at the end of the 2017/18 season to spend more time with his family, bringing an end to their 17-year working relationship. A short chapter, but one that might have looked very different had United backed his call on a 22-year-old Portuguese playmaker.
Now, as United weigh up how to use the rest of this transfer window, supporters are left to wonder: when the next Bernardo Silva recommendation lands on the desk at Old Trafford, will Ineos make the same mistake twice?
