Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has picked out Bernardo Silva for particular praise following Sunday's 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield.
The Citizens cruised to their first silverware of the campaign thanks to a goal in either half from prolific striker Sergio Aguero at Wembley Stadium.
Guardiola was left blown away by the performance of Bernardo, however, who he believes stepped up when fielded in a more central position as a result of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne being absent from the squad.
"The performance of Bernardo Silva was a masterpiece," he told reporters after the match. "Everybody knows the wingers want to compete. Right now, it is Bernardo and 10 players more. Right now. But in 11 months it depends on what they show me on the pitch.
"Bernardo is far away from other guys, so that's why, at the moment, he plays. He is so intelligent, he is clever. He is a fighter, a competitor. I think he is the guy most beloved in our team and today he showed me a lot of things.
"He came back earlier and that showed me again a lot of things and that's one of the reasons we won today. It was for many reasons. One of the reasons was Bernardo."
Only De Bruyne and Ederson played more Premier League games than Bernardo during City's successful 2017-18 campaign.
