Speaking on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano claimed that Manchester City will be offering Kevin De Bruyne a new contract in the near future, in order to fend off interest from Real Madrid.
Since joining City from VfL Wolfsburg in what was a £68.4 million deal back in 2015, De Bruyne has gone on to be a massive success with the club, scoring 58 goals and providing a massive 90 assists over his 227 appearances for City.
However, after it was announced that Manchester City would be banned from European football for two years for allegedly breaking financial fair play rules, the £108 million-rated 29-year-old’s future at the club was plunged into uncertainty, with the midfielder debating whether or not he would like to remain at a club that could not feature in the Champions League.
Following the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn City’s ban, however, the midfielder appeared to be happy to stay in Manchester, although, as yet, the Belgium international has yet to sign a new deal with Pep Guardiola’s side.
According to Romano, however, the club will begin negotiations with De Bruyne regarding a new deal in the very near future, as the club are wary that Real Madrid could be interested in making a move for the 29-year-old next summer.
He said: “Manchester City hope that Real Madrid won’t go for him next summer because if Real Madrid go for a star, they [will] consider Kevin De Bruyne.
“At the moment, there is nothing [between] his agents [and] Manchester City. They want to extend his contract [and] the direct talks with the agents of Kevin De Bruyne about his contract will start next month. So, [in] November, Manchester City and the agents of Kevin De Bruyne will start to talk about his contract.
“Manchester City want to keep the player, Kevin De Bruyne is absolutely happy. He had some difficult days when Manchester City had the problem with not playing [in] the Champions League for two years – [that] was terrible for him. But then, everything was sorted, so that’s why now Kevin De Bruyne is ready to talk with Manchester City about his contract.”
Will De Bruyne retire at Manchester City?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
From Romano’s comments, it is clear that the journalist is of the belief that City will indeed be looking to extend De Bruyne’s contract in the very near future, and that the 29-year-old is very happy with City at present, which, for a fan of the club, must be incredibly good news to hear.