Charlie Nicholas has said that Manchester City have someone in their squad who is just like Andres Iniesta.
The former Barcelona midfielder made 674 senior appearances for the Spanish club between 2002 and 2018, scoring 57 goals and delivering 136 assists along the way and lifting numerous trophies including four Champions Leagues.
181 of his 674 games for Barcelona came under Pep Guardiola when he was the manager of the La Liga side.
Now though, one of Guardiola’s current City players has been likened to the former Barcelona star and World Cup winner.
Nicholas says Bernardo Silva is just like Iniesta
Speaking in a recent edition of Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling, Nicholas had this to say when asked which current player he’d loved to have played with.
He said: “Oh, there’s probably a lot. I mean, I’m a great believer in the modern-day way, because I think they get so much protection now.
“Yeah, I look at different players, and if I’m looking at someone that I want to play with and link with, I would probably look at the current situation would be Bernardo Silva at Manchester City.
“I just think again, this thing that people always think, physical presence and height and all that stuff, it’s all nonsense if you’re good with the ball and you see things and you’re creative.
“He can do the hard work, but can also do the really clever work. I think when I see him with the ball, he looks as if he can find a pass at any given time.
“And I think when I could see players like that, I would be really attracted to try and get some sort of coordination going with him, so you could get some movement into your play.
“I just love the style of this little guy. I mean, we’ve had the David Silvas at Manchester City, with De Bruyne, some great, great footballers. But I just look at his style of play, it’s so kind of Iniesta type, that I love those type of footballers.
“They’re really stand-out footballers for me. They just make me smile. When I talk about them and I see them, I see them in a smile because they make footballers look at the game as if this is pretty easy, isn’t it?
“And you think it ain’t easy. It ain’t even easy now, but I just love watching somebody like him. I think he’s an absolute superstar.”
Guardiola absolutely loves Bernardo Silva
During his time at the Manchester club, Silva has scored 66 goals and delivered 62 assists in 351 appearances across all competitions.
This isn’t the first time the Portuguese international has been likened to Iniesta, as former City defender Wayne Bridge made the same comparison back in 2019.
In terms of Guardiola’s view on the 29-year-old, the City manager said in April last year that Silva is one of the best players he’s ever coached.
Taking into account how much Iniesta won at Barcelona and how much of a key role he played in that success over such a long period of time, the fact that Nicholas has now compared him to Silva and shared how much he admires the City star shows just how impressive he has been for the Blues.