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Real Madrid are increasingly confident of making a huge transfer breakthrough, according to reports.
News broke on Thursday evening that they are pursuing former Manchester City man Bernardo Silva and have approached the player with an official contract offer.
Bernardo is a free agent this summer, having left City at the end of his contract and looks set to be among Mourinho's first signings, after his return to Madrid was announced on Thursday evening. He will officially begin work at the Bernabeu again on July 13.
Madrid make 'surprise move' to claim Bernardo's signature
Mourinho's reappointment was one of president Florentino Perez's promises ahead of his recent successful re-election campaign - a promise he has now fulfilled.
Currently, there are no official plans for a grand unveiling, with Sky Sports claiming he has decided against holding a press conference or staging a welcome ceremony.
Instead, he wants to get straight to work, with summer recruitment an important part of his immediate workload.
The news of his and Madrid's pursuit of Bernardo came out of the blue, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who now claims that the La Liga giants are 'confident' of completing the signing.
In a message on X, he stated that the team were in "advanced talks" with the player, after an official bid was sent.
In the video, Romano said: "Real Madrid are in advanced talks to sign Bernardo Silva as a free agent. A surprise move in the last 24 hours.
"Bernardo Silva is wanted by Jose Mourinho, so Real Madrid are now ready to attack and try to close the deal as soon as possible. The official bid is already in the hands of the former Manchester City midfielder."
The proposal has put Madrid "ahead of" all the other clubs interested in capturing Bernardo's signature this summer.
That includes Barcelona, who have "nothing advanced or concrete", despite their admiration for the player.
Atletico Madrid have also been credited with interest in the free agent.
Bernardo spent nine years with Manchester City, winning six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League among a host of trophies.
During that time, he scored 76 goals in 460 matches in total. Included in those goals are three against Real Madrid across two different Champions League matches.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, this will be a solid move for Real Madrid if they can pull it off, given Bernardo's experience and the fact that he's a proven winner.
While at City, he shared a dressing room with some big personalities and learnt a lot from his manager, serial champion Pep Guardiola, something that will be incredibly useful in the Real dressing room as they look to recover from a second year without winning the league title.
