Kevin De Bruyne moves towards Manchester City exit after nine-year stay with Saudi Arabia and MLS opportunities available | OneFootball

Manchester City appear to be heading towards an emotional parting of ways with club legend Kevin De Bruyne after a nine-year affiliation with the Belgian playmaker.

The 33-year-old is now into the final six months of his current Etihad Stadium contract, and with the January transfer window now having arrived for another year, De Bruyne is free to receive formal contacts from clubs over a summer transfer as a free agent.

Both De Bruyne himself and Manchester City’s officials having long-insisted that there is nothing other than a calmness about the player’s contractual situation, instead claiming that the midfielder has been allowed the time and space to focus on his own fitness.

The ongoing season has been far from smooth sailing for De Bruyne off the back of his surgery-hit 2023/24 campaign, missing an extended period of time through a groin problem that neither the player nor the club’s medical professionals knew how to treat sooner.

And it is those problems that come with age that may ultimately force Manchester City to reconsider the status of a number of players within Pep Guardiola’s squad, with a new report detailing five figures in particular that could be at the centre of transfer uncertainty.

According to the information of Manchester City insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo’ on X, all of Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Mateo Kovacic have offers from Saudi Arabia representatives to join their project next summer.

On the specific subject of Manchester City’s legendary Belgian playmaker De Bruyne, it is claimed that the 33-year-old is now ‘unlikely’ to remain at the Etihad Stadium beyond this season, with the United States still an attractive option.

It is suggested that De Bruyne would collect an eye-watering signing fee of at least £30 million as a free agent next summer, regardless of his destination, with that fee coming before a salary package which would vastly exceed his £400,000 a week deal at Manchester City.

De Bruyne spoke as recently as late-November about his Manchester City contract situation during a press conference, in which he insisted that talks between himself and relevant figures within the Etihad Stadium would come in time.

“Questions will come, but I can only give you the answers that I’m giving you right now because there’s nothing really more to talk about,” De Bruyne said prior to a UEFA Champions League fixture.

He continued, “Talks will come, if no talks come then it’s my last year. So I don’t know, I’m trying to be honest. People can say or write about it, I can’t affect that, I just want to play good football and we’ll see what the future holds.”

And speaking after Manchester City’s latest outing in the Premier League as Pep Guardiola’s side recorded a 0-2 win over Leicester City, De Bruyne said, “No nothing yet,” when asked whether there had been any developments on his contractual position.