🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: An master-of-all-trades in 17th | OneFootball

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of the Ballon d’OneFootball as we continue our countdown of the top 25 players in the world. Here’s an explainer how we decided on a top 25.

Here’s the list so far.

And today we have …

17th: Bernardo Silva, Manchester City and Portugal

(Last year: 9th)

“Bernardo is fucking intuitive,” said an exultant Pep Guardiola following Manchester City’s 7-0 Champions League thrashing of RB Leipzig back in March.

“Bernardo has the ability to press three players in two minutes, there is not one player who can do that. Not one.”

At the end of the season, Kevin De Bruyne offered a similar assessment of his team-mate.

“Bernardo is so smart, isn’t he? His understanding of the game is unbelievable,” he said. “He plays about 19 different positions, even though there’s only 11 available. Yeah, he’s so, so good.”

Those two quotes perfectly encapsulate the kind of player Silva has become, and it’s interesting how the perception of him has changed during his time in England.

When Manchester City signed him from Monaco in 2017, many assumed they were getting a replica of his namesake David.

There are certainly similarities between the two diminutive playmakers. Both possess an exquisite left-foot capable of threading passes, weaving between defenders and blasting into the top corner as and when required, and both have the ability to make crowds gasp wherever they go.

But during his time at City, Bernardo has developed a robustness that David never had. The Portuguese is a workmanlike master-of-all-trades who usually does more running than anyone else on the pitch and has played in so many positions that it’s difficult to pinpoint which is his best. There was even a brief period earlier this season when he was deployed at left-back for a couple of games.

If he’s what is commonly referred to, often in a slightly derogatory way, as a “utility player” then he’s probably the best utility player around. As Guardiola alluded to, his pressing ability has become one of the strongest weapons in City’s armoury, and De Bruyne was correct to suggest that Bernardo’s footballing intelligence is second to none.

Perhaps one thing that lets Bernardo down and leads the casual onlooker to underrate him somewhat are his relatively unimpressive goals and assists numbers.

After scoring against Newcastle and Crystal Palace in successive games in August 2022, he had to wait until February 2023 until he found the net again for club or country.

He finished the 2022/23 season with a modest seven goals and eight assists, with three of those goals coming at vital moments in Champions League knockout clashes with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, and one of those assists coming in the Champions League final.

But in many ways he is a player who transcends those basic metrics, and his contribution to the team can’t be easily measured. You just have to ask his manager, his team-mates and those who watch him play week in week out, and they’ll all tell you he’s a genius.

We are entering the third consecutive summer in which Bernardo has made no secret of his desire to leave Manchester City for sunnier climes and a new experience. One of the most baffling things in football is that clubs aren’t queuing around the block to sign him.

Click here for every player named so far and their profiles.