A few ceramic horses stand on the large old oak table Bernardo Silva settles in, under a crystal chandelier in one of the 15 rooms of Villa Tasca.
They wear hunters in a wing of this Sicilian mansion – available to the public for just € 35,000 a week – where drawings of dead rabbits adorn the walls. Fish also for a good measure in nets. There is a theme in this space.
Silva attracts a bank in Palermo, the night before the last friendly friendly friend of Manchester City for the preseason, to wear his soul in this setting of Weelde. A gala dinner between Stad, Palermo and commercial partners is in the event of a while; Silva, as a captain nowadays, has to put his head inside to say hello.
But only when he makes it clear that the city wants to jump back on the horse, don't hang like trophies for sport. Silva sounds like a man who is ready to hunt for the first time in a long time. City no longer had to do that since 2020, when they last went to a Premier League campaign without the crown.
The scars from last season – at one point that only appear an external bet to qualify for the Champions League – are still visible, but Silva wants them to act as a memory and motivation.
The team was tired in the last term and sounded like they had become tired of each other to a certain extent. In those moments, the only victory in 13 games for a team that had won a Treble 18 months earlier, you will learn who is on the front line.
'It's not about winning or losing, it is about competing about the title. We didn't even try, “says Silva. 'I think we are emotional that we will definitely be back. What is hungry again, we are back.
“I hate to lose. You have to be simple with your boys. I think the experience was good, because we first learned how we can appreciate what we were doing in the past, which is not normal. Six titles in Seven is ridiculous. It will probably not happen anymore.
“There is a lot … I would say guilt. Debt in all players, in the manager, in everyone, not to do better to overcome this situation. We want things to go back to normality and normality at the club fight for each title. '
Guardiola invited Silva to his office towards the end of the season, as soon as skipper Kevin De Bruyne had announced his departure to offer Portuguese the bracelet of the World Cup bracelet.
This was a real explanation, the manager of City switched his own rules about the captain. Players and employees have always voted for the leadership group. Not this time. Silva was handed over instead. He admits that it felt a bit strange, although his lasting popularity probably makes it a smart game.
Silva then mentions the captains he borrows facets of leadership of: Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao, Fernandinho, Vincent Kompany, De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan.
Downstairs, guests venture out the lawns with their flutes, starters come out during dinner, held on the spot where the second series of HBO's White Lotus was filmed. A comedy drama aimed at poor friends who lower each other. Sounds creepy known.
Silva regrets defensive injuries that hinder the city, but then seems to locate areas for improvement. And they are areas that you do not associate with a team of serial winners, who have seen former ski-skipper Kyle Walker and Jack Grealishe the biggest names to leave this summer.
“I think the biggest task, not only my task, but of all the captains, is to create the right balance in the dressing room,” says Silva. 'I would say that the right balance is good behavior and respect in terms of arriving on time, in terms of good performance in training sessions, which gives you best for the club. Do not take shortcuts, do not try to cheat your work.
'You certainly learn with whom you can wage war and with whom you cannot do at those times. Hopefully it was a very good lesson for us. '
Time will tell about that. What becomes clear is that Silva is not interested in messing around in this new role. Just as spiky, just as honest. Maybe even more.
Apart from the clear genius since he was connected in 2017, he has long had a cult hero status in the bars of Manchester – especially for his response to the title of Liverpool four years ago. Hold that polystyrene cup during an honorary guard in the Etihad Stadium, refusing to clap. He eventually called rival fans 'pathetic' and told them that they 'read a book' when they flooded his social media after the city was dumped by Lyon from Europe a month later.
It is probably a good job that stood the city of the city opposite Arne Slot long before the last title was secured.
“It's not a tradition for me, in Portugal,” says the 31-year-old. 'I think if I win a title, I don't need anyone else to clap for me. In a sense also my opinion, it's a kind of hypocrisy … but people, it's fine. If they want to do it, they can do it. I didn't hit Liverpool, because that's not how I four the defeat. '
Silva hopes that he should not explain this year.