Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has already hit out at Bernardo Silva after his debut for the club.
Mourinho returned to the Bernabeu earlier this summer, 13 years after his first spell, and one of his first targets was Man City legend Bernardo Silva.
The Portuguese midfielder was strongly linked with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, but Real won the race and Mourinho wanted his captaincy experience and influence to help improve standards and behaviour in the dressing room following a trophyless season that spawned a number of divisive arguments.
After joining up with the squad later due to his participation with Portugal in the World Cup, Silva appeared for the first time in Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Ferencvaros, yet Mourinho wasn’t happy with what he saw.
‘Bernardo Silva?’ he said. ‘He’s a very important player for us. But the poor guy, when he goes on vacation, he likes to disconnect completely, he doesn’t do any work.
‘So he arrived for pre-season with much lower physical fitness, and he has to improve.’
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho hit out at Bernardo Silva’s fitness after his debut for the club
Bernardo featured in Real’s 2-1 win over Ferencvaros in pre-season in Budapest on Saturday
Despite his scathing criticism, the legendary Portuguese boss reserved some praise for the midfielder.
‘But Bernardo is a wonderful player who gives us excellent build-up with the ball, whether he plays in a deeper position or in midfield (the 6 or 8 position),’ he added.
‘During the match I saw that he lacks physical strength, so I moved him to the 10 position. He can play there too. He can play in three or four positions.’
Mourinho’s side ended up winning the clash 2-1 in what was their fourth pre-season friendly.
They face further matches against Deportivo and Schalke before kicking off the LaLiga season with a trip to Espanyol on August 22.
And Mourinho was happy with where his side were at, although he felt there were still areas for improvement.
He said: ‘I liked the first half more. It doesn’t surprise me because we have been working more with those players. We had very good control of the game.
‘In the second half, with Vini and Bernardo, who don’t have many minutes, and with Endrick changing positions, we lost some of our organisation. But it’s good.
‘You don’t finish the game by giving away a dangerous free kick like we did. You have to know what to do. Those small mistakes that accumulate in these games are good for me.’
Mourinho did praise Bernardo’s qualities but added that he has work to do on his fitness
Meanwhile, when departing City at the end of last season, an emotional Silva, who played 460 times for the club and broke down in tears on his final appearance, hailed his ‘unbelievable’ journey over nine years.
He said: ‘It’s difficult because nine years, it’s a very long time. I would say that I leave as a Man City supporter.
‘When I arrived from Portugal, I was a fan of Benfica, but now I can say that for sure that my feelings toward this club are very, very strong.
‘I will be supporting Man City for the rest of my life. I also have the feeling of being grateful to the club, to the people, to what the fans gave me back. It was just unbelievable.’
