Tottenham defender Danny Rose claims new Manchester City signing Bernardo Silva is the ‘hardest opponent’ he has played against this season.
Manchester City announced on their official Twitter account on Friday evening that they had confirmed the signing of Silva for a £43million fee, with the transfer set to go ahead on July 1.
It’s official. @BernardoCSilva will join City on July 1st! #WelcomeBernardohttps://t.co/dWswQzTPYB
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 26, 2017
But Rose admits that Silva is the ‘hardest opponent’ he has played against this season, having come up against the former AS Monaco man in this season’s Champions League.
Tottenham were drawn alongside the French giants in the group-stage earlier this season, where Spurs were eliminated from the competition having lost twice against Monaco, but Rose only featured in the second fixture.
The two players also met during the Europa League group-stages a year before, where Rose’s Tottenham won one, and drew one, of their two fixtures against Monaco.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, as quoted by their official Twitter account, he said: “He’s the hardest opponent I’ve played against this season. I couldn’t get near him.”
The first big #PL transfer of the summer has gone through.#THFC's Danny Rose had a tough time against Bernardo Silva this season… pic.twitter.com/PJ3AS2CNfe
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) May 26, 2017
Rose could, however, have his work cut out once more when Manchester City and Tottenham go head-to-head in the Premier League next season.
The Tottenham left-back made 21 appearances in all competitions last season, having missed much of the second-half of the campaign due to a knee injury.
He limped off after just 38 minutes during the 0-0 draw with Sunderland in the Premier League on January 31, and did not feature again for the club, despite talk that he could make a return at the end of April.
Silva, meanwhile, contributed 11 goals and 12 assists as Monaco lifted the Ligue 1 title, and found the back of the net against Tottenham during their 2-1 win at Wembley in September.