With Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his first team squad now celebrating a fourth straight Premier League title win, as we move towards the opening of the summer transfer window, 32 year old Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne has opened up about his own future at The Etihad Stadium and he has admitted that he is ‘open to everything’ – including the riches on offer from the Saudi Arabian Pro League.
The 99 capped international has picked up six Premier League winners medals, as well as the Champions League trophy, during his lengthy stay in Manchester having joined them back in 2015 from Wolfsburg for a reported £55 million transfer fee, but he does now only have 12 months remaining on his contract, and as things stand next January he is free to sign a pre contract deal with clubs in European leagues and beyond.
In an interview with Belgian broadcaster VTM, as relayed by newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, de Bruyne stated that the ‘incredible’ contracts that were on offer in the Saudi Pro League were an obvious draw as his playing days draw to a natural end, and he felt it could be an appealing option in a few years time for him.
For now though, the potential options available to him were simply discussion points that he and his wife were assessing on an increasingly more regular basis, but an ‘exotic adventure’ of some kind, and a complete different type of experience as he heads towards hanging his boots up could certainly be on the cards, and from his words, he is obviously mindful that his eldest son (eight years old) has only ever known England, so that will figure in his future career decisions as well.
With the Belgian captain preparing for their 2024 European Championship tilt this summer, it is fully understandable as to why he is now taking a more long term and financial approach to his future, despite the riches he has already earned from the professional game. Having missed nigh on five months of the 2023/24 campaign following injury, it will naturally be at the back of his head that recovery from longer lay offs has begun getting harder, and his very successful career will now be taking a toll on his body, as attested to by many other professional footballers who previously entered his age bracket.
But if injuries are kind to him, and should he look to less physically competitive divisions than the English top flight in the next year (or maybe two), he very obviously could still be playing in 2030, and maybe beyond that.
The question right now for many will be simply, do City let him leave on a free, or cash in at their last opportunity?