Man City's Pep Guardiola has high expectations of "intelligent" Bernardo Silva

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that Bernardo Silva will be a key player in the team this season due to his ability and 'intelligence'.

The Portugal international signed for the two-time Premier League champions from AS Monaco three months ago in a deal that cost a reported £43m.

After being given an extended break due to his participation in the Confederations Cup, Silva gave fans a glimpse of what he will bring during City's 3-0 friendly win over West Ham United last week.

"I'm so grateful - thanks so much to the club for picking him up," FourFourTwo quotes Guardiola as saying. "Bernardo played his first minutes and he was immediately ready to play. Intelligent players don't need time to be involved in the way we want to play.

"Bernardo is a guy who loves football, who lives 24 hours thinking about the game. I like that. He is a humble guy - he's so intelligent, which is a huge quality. Close to the box he has the quality to score a lot of goals and he's a fighter too so he's going to help us during the season."

Silva scored eight goals and created nine assists in 37 Ligue 1 appearances for Monaco last season.