Manchester City have had something of an inconsistent first half of the season, but are still in the hunt for trophies on four fronts after finishing in the top eight of the Champions League group stage
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City speaks after the win over Galatasaray
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City speaks after the win over Galatasaray(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
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Bernardo Silva has fired an ominous warning to his biggest rivals - after insisting the best of Manchester City is still to come.
Pep Guardiola's side beat Galatasaray to reach the Champions League knockout stages and remain in the hunt for trophies on all four fronts. Guardiola has bought 12 new players in the past 13 months to rebuild his team following a woeful campaign last time out which saw City fail to win a single piece of silverware.
Silva admits it has taken some of the 'new blood' time to settle in and get used to the tactics and demands of Guardiola. But he reckons City will only get stronger as the season reaches a climax.
The Portuguese midfielder said: "Yeah, it's pretty clear that the club decided to go for the renovation of the squad. A squad that won a lot, but needed maybe some new blood, in their opinion. They went for it, and it takes time.
"What I feel is that this team has a lot of potential to be much, much better than what it is now. We're definitely in a much better place than we were three months ago, and we were six or nine months ago.
"I don't know from the outside, but from the inside, it feels like every day we're growing, and especially I have the feeling that if we have some of the players back from injury, important characters, for example, Nico Gonzalez comes back.
"When you can put together Nico and Rodri it can be really important, when we recover Ruben (Dias) at the back, it gives us more leadership and character.
"So all these kind of details, adding to that new blood and to that new energy and the talents that the club decided to go for, this team has a lot of potential."
Erling Haaland scored his first goal in open play in nine games in the 2-0 win over Galatasaray. But Silva admits the dressing room never panics when Haaland goes a few matches without finding the back of the net.
He added: "At the beginning of the season, he scored so many goals and everyone was saying that it was Haaland FC, right? And now he doesn't score anymore?
"In life and in football, it doesn't work that way. We know the player Erling is. We know that with time, obviously, every season he has like one or two weeks or a month where he's not scoring as much as on the other ones, but he'll come back.
"And again, he is back and I'm pretty sure that in the next games, he will be really important for us."
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