He has 409 appearances in the City shirt since his transfer from small Wolfsburg in 2015. Under Pep Guardiola’s leadership, Kevin de Bruyne has grown into the player who deserved the Premier League’s highest salary. In the past year, the Belgian with 105 goals and 173 assists has been announced on his way out, with De Bruyne himself admitting that the door to Saudi Arabian money bins is tempting. This would have been a sad end to an extreme career, but now there are signals that the 33-year-old has changed his mind.
The City captain on an expiring contract in the summer has also been linked with Mourinho’s Fenerbahce and Beckham’s Inter Miami. This season, new injuries have given De Bruyne so far only 1500 minutes in the match arena. The last two seasons with injuries have shown the 33-year-old’s legs are marked by years of stress at the highest level. The natural thing would be a de-escalation outside the world’s toughest league, but now it is reported that De Bruyne wants the de-escalation to a completely different place.
At Manchester City.
According to The Times, the Belgian intends to sign a new contract with City, despite the fact that he has been given a smaller role and several games starting from the bench. The English media claim De Bruyne himself has realized his limitations after the injuries, and is open to a new contract with a smaller role at City (we predict a corresponding salary reduction).
For City and Pep Guardiola, this is worth its weight in gold. De Bruyne is the veteran who has led and stood in the biggest football matches with great success, the City DNA he himself has helped to shape.
De Bruyne has been a mentor to Erling Haaland in his run-up to the Premier League and fed the Norwegian with an impressive 16 assists so far. For Haaland, this means that one of the world’s most creative and best facilitators will continue to provide the best working conditions for the City striker.
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