Manchester City talisman Kevin De Bruyne has agreed a seismic exit from Europe, with City now looking for a replacement
(Image credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has reportedly agreed a deal in Saudi Arabia, ahead of an Etihad exit this summer.
The Belgian has been linked with the Saudi Pro League all summer, telling Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad on Monday ahead of Belgium'sEuro 2024 clash with France, “Yes [I'll stay at City]. I've read a lot of headlines about a transfer, but I haven't spoken to anyone.”
But now, reports have broken that De Bruyne has in fact verbally agreed a move to the Middle East in principle, with a fee to be decided through negotiations with Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola faces losing De Bruyne (Image credit: Getty Images)
TEAMtalk have relayed the news, making a shortlist of City's potential replacements for their talismanic No.17, who has been a Citizen for nine years.
They list Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich as a principal target, claiming exclusively that City have “made movements” for the German star.
VIDEO The GENIUS Way Spain Adapted To Beat Germany
Joao Neves of Benfica has also been named as a potential option. He is being closely tracked by Manchester United, with the Red Devils looking to bring in the Portuguese starlet to partner Kobbie Mainoo.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
FourFourTwo understands that De Bruyne's exit is an eventuality that Man City have been planning for for a while – though in our opinion, there is nothing concrete to suggest that an exit for KDB is definitely happening yet.
Benfica star Joao Neves may replace De Bruyne (Image credit: Getty Images)
Even though De Bruyne is 33, City are not in the habit of losing their best stars and will look for a sizeable fee in any deal that sees him leave. As shown with interest in Kyle Walker last summer, the champions are not adverse to handing new contracts to older players who still have a key role to play.
De Bruyne is worth €50 million, as per Transfermarkt.
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
