Bernardo Silva has won two Premier League titles with Manchester City but his performances for Portugal are arguably even more impressive.
When your team mate is a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, its never going to be easy to hog the limelight. Fortunately, Bernardo Silva is not the sort of character who demands to be centre of attention.
The Manchester City winger is more than happy to go about his work in the background, starring in the shadows as Ronaldo dominates the headlines, prances, poses and plunders as the world watches on in awe.
The Juventus talisman scored a hat-trick, his ninth at international level, as Portugal thrashed Lithuania 6-0 on Thursday night – but he wasn’t even the best player on the pitch at the 30,000 capacity Algarve Stadium.
Instead, that honour went to Silva. With a goal and two assists, the former Benfica and Monaco star has contributed to ten goals in his last seven games for his country, a remarkable record which even surpasses his outstanding form at club level for Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions.
A £43 million signing in the summer of 2017, Silva continues to be one of the most underrated attacking players anywhere in the European game despite his starring role in successive Premier League title triumphs and an unprecedented domestic treble.
Fortunately, that’s just the way this understated genius likes it.
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