According to reports from The Guardian yesterday evening, Manchester City believe they have agreed a £54million deal for Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
The former Chelsea youngster struggled to impress during his two years at Stamford Bridge, being sold to Wolfsburg for £18million in January 2014 after two loan spells away from the club and just six first team appearances.
But he’s since emerged as one of the top attacking midfielders in European football, finishing last season with 10 goals and 21 assists in 34 league appearances to claim the Footballer of the Year award in Germany.
Manchester City have targeted the 24 year-old for much of the summer and been in negotiations with Wolfsburg for some time, but reports earlier this week claimed Manchester United were looking to hijack any potential deal after missing out on former Barcelona star Pedro, now of Chelsea.
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But according to The Guardian, City are confident that they’ve finally reached an agreement to sign the Belgium international – an initial £54million, which could rise to £58.5million through performance-related bonuses.
The British newspaper claim De Bruyne could be flown in for a medical at some point today and unveiled as an official Manchester City player tomorrow – meaning he’ll unlikely be registered for selection in time for the Citizens’ home match with Watford on Saturday.
However, Manuel Pellegrini’s side may not be over the line just yet. The structure of payments is still yet to be agreed by both clubs, whilst agent Patrick De Koster refused to confirm a deal had been reached yesterday evening, telling reporters; “I’m having dinner with Kevin at the moment but we have no news. We are relaxed about the situation and we will see what happens in the next day or two. Kevin is not desperate to leave Wolfsburg but hopefully there will be a conclusion soon.”