Manchester City have offered star playmaker Bernardo Silva to Barcelona for £67million in a move that could fund a deal for Lyon star Lucas Paqueta, according to reports.
City boss Pep Guardiola slapped a hands-off warning on the Portuguese midfielder just 10 days ago with both Barca and PSG sniffing around.
But now it seems the blue-half of Manchester has had a change of heart and they could be set to cash-in on the 27-year-old.
A swap deal involving Neymar joining City and Silva heading to Paris was shot down by all parties, but rumours are persisting that the former Monaco man could be departing the Etihad Stadium.
Silva was heavily linked with a move away from City last summer and L’Equipe now claimed the Premier League champions have offered Silva to Barcelona themselves. City have already banked over £150million from selling players this summer with Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus the primary sources of income.
It’s also been suggested that Guardiola’s side want to acquire Paqueta.
The Brazilian has been attracting interest from Premier League sides Arsenal and Newcastle this summer, but the lure of Man City would surely jettison the champions to the head of the queue.
Cash-strapped Barcelona may seem like an outside bet for Silva, but the Catalans keep finding a way to pull deals out of the bag.
The La Liga giants were slow to register Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen due to the financial implications, but they since gone on to sign Robert Lewandowski, Ralphina and Jules Kounde for nearly a combined £150m.
Just a week ago, Barca raised some cash by selling 15 per cent of their domestic television rights to the global investment firm Sixth Street in a deal worth around £268.5m.
