Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City at the end of the season. The 31-year-old Portuguese star is facing his ninth and final season with the English champions, where he has played 449 games, scoring 42 goals and providing 34 assists. The player coached by Pep Guardiola will put an end to a successful spell in the Premier League and has now made his departure even clearer in the club's media (although they have not yet officially announced his departure).

The Portugal-England contrast: "Culturally, the Portuguese and the English are quite different; the weather, the food, the way of life are a bit different. I always joke that if Manchester was further south in Europe, I would stay until I was kicked out. Because I really love the football club, my teammates, the staff, the fans, the stadium, the atmosphere, everything about my professional life!"

Cultural factor: "Then the other side of my life is different because I'm not saying I don't like it, but culturally it's not exactly what I would ideally want. So at some moments you don't feel as happy as you would like. Before I met my wife, I was alone in Manchester for a while when I didn't feel very good about myself. I certainly thought a lot about leaving, not because I didn't like the football club - which I love - but because of the other side of my life."

He has no regrets: "In the end, it didn't happen. I'm so glad it didn't happen! Because I probably would have missed the opportunity to live the memories of the treble, of the four titles in a row, the opportunity to be captain, to be part of the leadership group, to pass on my experience to the young players, to try to get the club back to where it deserves to be. But if Manchester City were in Lisbon, I'd stay until I was 40..."

If Manchester was further south in Europe, I would stay here until I was 40

The support of the fans in his early days: "We were talking at the beginning that I was thinking of leaving at some point in my career; there was news in the press... but the reaction of the fans was always incredible, in a surprising way! Elsewhere, maybe they would have booed me or something. They always respected me as a player and as a person, they welcomed me with open arms, they respected me and helped me, maybe it was one of the main reasons why I stayed at this club for so long!"

The generational change: "I see the same ambition to succeed in the new players. Now they know the standards of this club, the level demanded, the one we set in the last eight or nine years. That makes them even more eager to go for it and say: 'Look, we are also capable of achieving it'."

I could have left, things came out in the press... but the fans reacted well, maybe somewhere else they would have booed me

The ambition of the club: "In recent years, this club has shown that if you want to be part of it, you have to be a winner. These guys who have joined in the last two or three years are really very good. They can take this club exactly where it was: a place where we can fight for titles every season."