spoke to Real Madrid’s television channel<\/a> about his feelings, and excitement ran through every word.\n<\/p>\n“It is very special and I am very happy to be here,” Bernardo Silva said. “There is no need to talk about this club, because its history speaks for itself.”\n<\/p>\n
He added: “I am very happy to begin this stage and to try to help this team continue winning, because that is what it knows how to do. I am another player who is here to help and try to continue the path of victories for this wonderful club.”\n<\/p>\n
Tough as the start proved, he had nothing but praise for the mood inside the squad. “I am tired. The first training session was tough, but I am very happy to get to know my teammates. I already know some of them well because I have played against them many times.”\n<\/p>\n
He continued: “Everyone trains with great intensity, and this place makes you feel as though it is home.”\n<\/p>\n
Mourinho, once a rival, now his coach, also drew warm words from the Portugal international. “We were rivals at times, and now we are on the same team. He is a coach who means a lot to Portuguese football. Since I was young, we followed his teams a great deal, and he has always kept the name of Portugal at the highest level. I am very happy to begin working and learning with him.”\n<\/p>\n
Asked what he brings, Bernardo Silva cast himself as a versatile player who puts the team first. “I am a player who relies on work, and on trying to make those who play alongside me better. I always try to be available in several positions to help the team. I can adapt in many places, and I will be ready for whatever Real Madrid needs.”\n<\/p>\n
Real Madrid’s call left him no room for doubt. He agreed on the spot. “When Real Madrid appeared, it was impossible to say no, and I did not think about it twice.”\n<\/p>\n
He continued: “After playing against Real Madrid many times, you feel just how great it is, and how much prestige the Santiago Bernabeu stadium has. Being close to my family, and very close to Portugal, and in a very similar culture, helps. But the dream of playing at the best club in the history of football is a privilege.”\n<\/p>\n
Among his football idols, one name is currently linked with Los Blancos. “I have many. Zinedine Zidane is one of them without doubt. So too Rui Costa, because he is a Benfica and Portugal player, and Luka Modric, who was a great role model and an example both on and off the pitch.”\n<\/p>\n
He concluded: “Zidane is perhaps among the top five players in the history of football. He played almost in my position, and when I was young, I would watch how he controlled the ball and how he played.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bernardo Silva got his first taste of life as a Real Madrid player on Monday, having arrived at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26176,26248,85,82,83,24844],"class_list":["post-65355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-b-silva","tag-l-modric","tag-laliga","tag-madrid","tag-real-madrid","tag-z-zidane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}