Bernardo Silva unlikely for Juventus without Champions League football

Thursday’s reports claim that Juventus are set to miss out on the signing of Bernardo Silva as a free agent without qualification to next season’s Champions League, which appears unlikely heading into the final round of 2025-26 Serie A fixtures.

Juventus had been among the frontrunners to land the signature of the Portugal international, who will be leaving Manchester City after nine seasons and six Premier League titles once his contract expires at the end of June.

However, according to updates from La Gazzetta dello Sport and various other outlets, the signing of Bernardo Silva is now slipping away from the Bianconeri without access to the Champions League and amidst interest from abroad, especially from Atletico Madrid.

La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Bernardo Silva’s agent, Jorge Mendes, already had strong demands for his client, eyeing a three-year contract with a ‘double-digit’ salary, i.e. in excess of €10m per season. The Pink Paper claims that this was always a stretch for Juventus and practically impossible without Champions League revenues.

That is on top of interest from Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who are guaranteed Champions League football, and are also based closer to Bernardo Silva’s home in Portugal, which is said to be an important factor in the decision over his next club.

The situation leaves Juventus looking at alternative options elsewhere.

La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that the Old Lady are now interested in two former Milan players instead of Bernardo SIlva: One being Manchester City’s Tijjani Reijnders, already looking like he may be on the sidelines of the project at the Etihad Stadium. Another is former Rossoneri loanee Brahim Diaz, still with Real Madrid.