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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola nearly laughed in the face of reporters after being asked about Bernardo Silva moving to Barcelona.
The Portugal international came close to leaving City last summer and was set to join Atletico Madrid.
He decided to stay at the Etihad however and help City to their fourth Premier League title in five years.
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Silva has once again been linked with a move to La Liga and this time, it's Barcelona who've registered their interest. Guardiola decided to keep it real with his former side in a short but blunt message.
"They will have a difficult time," he declared, with his expression telling the whole story.
Guardiola played a key role in keeping Silva in Manchester and he repaid his boss with a sensational start to the season.
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Silva was one of the Premier League's best players in the early parts of this season and helped City through a tricky festive period.
His form cooled in the latter part of the campaign and teammate Jack Grealish even joked about him coming off against Aston Villa on the final day.
The 27-year-old didn't want to leave City for footballing reasons last year, but he was disillusioned with life in England during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Silva went long periods without seeing his family and it started to impact his form.
He told The Times: "People suffered much more than us but for me it was tough because I was far away from my family. Before I used to go to Portugal for a couple of days and have dinner with my mum and dad. It was just dinner but you’re with your parents so it’s nice. To not be able to do that was difficult.
"It was not a nice moment to be honest. For a while I was alone in my flat. Later my girlfriend came. It was bad for everyone. I could see in my teammates’ faces that it was tough for them too."
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Since arriving from Monaco in 2017, Silva has also won the Carabao Cup four times and FA Cup once.
Barcelona are keen to strengthen their squad in the transfer window despite their ongoing financial issues.
Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen are expected to join as free agents, while they continue to work on a move for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
Other targets include Angel Di Maria, who is also a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Bernardo Silva, Barcelona
Daniel Marland