- Bernardo Silva set to depart Man City
- Club linked with Ibrahim Maza
- Attacker leads Silva in one area
Manchester City have been linked with Ibrahim Maza, who could be the ideal long-term replacement for the departing Bernardo Silva.
It has been said that Bernardo Silva is irreplaceable at Manchester City, but this does not mean the club will struggle to find an adequate alternative.
Already, Man City have identified Ibrahim Maza as a summer transfer target, an attacking midfielder who plays for Bayer Leverkusen.
The 20-year-old has recorded five goals and six assists this season and one of these contributions came against City in the Champions League.
Silva and Maza are by no means identical
While Maza and Silva possess some similar attributes, there are also key differences to note in their games.
🇩🇿🔵 Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen, 20)
— DataMB (@DataMB_) April 15, 2026
🇵🇹🔴 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, 31)
Compare players 👉 https://t.co/McR5zrPSJm https://t.co/wlj1DPMm4C pic.twitter.com/VHkePJjmnZ
Data MB have shown both play tend to play the same number of progressive passes in a game, and their carrying stats are a similar story.
However, Silva plays far more forward passes, which tend to be shorter balls up the pitch. Indeed, the City captain passes the ball in front of him more often than 80 per cent of players in Europe’s top five leagues.
Maza leads Silva in two areas
Silva may be the king of forward passes, but Maza is more likely to play a key pass which creates an opportunity in front of goal.
In fact, there are very few players in Europe who play as many accurate key passes as the German youngster.
Maza is also very good when it comes to duels, and he wins a much higher percentage of these than Silva.
With Maza leading the way in these areas and also matching Silva in others, he could be the signing City need when the Portugal international departs.
The Premier League and Bundesliga are very different
One factor to consider is the fact that the Premier League has proved to be a tough division to adapt to, particularly for players coming from Germany.
Take Florian Wirtz and Xavi Simons for example, who both struggled to get going after joining Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur respectively last summer.
Despite this, there have been some success stories, and Maza will have plenty of time to adjust and develop to fulfil Silva’s role, while offering even more of a cutting edge in attack.
