Kevin De Bruyne might have been a Liverpool fan when he was growing up, but the chances of him making the sensational switch from Manchester City to Anfield when his contract expires were never high.
Jurgen Klopp once said that he would have loved to work with De Bruyne, and rightly so. That was in his peak, though, and not after a couple of seasons where his availability has been limited. Right now, it would be a crazy gamble for Liverpool to take.
There is a reason that Manchester City has chosen to let De Bruyne leave this summer — and it is the club’s decision, not his. At nearly 34, he simply isn’t the same force that he once was.
For much of the last two seasons, Manchester City has been unable to call upon De Bruyne because he has been sidelined through injury. When he has been fit, his influence has not been at the same level.
And when you are one of the very best-paid players in the world, you need to be delivering more than he has. It is the right time for Pep Guardiola to find someone new, with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White one option under consideration as a successor.
When the unlikely claim emerged that Liverpool had made an offer for De Bruyne, it was one that got people talking. Why wouldn’t it? It would be a big story if it were true.
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In reality, though, De Bruyne is simply not the kind of player that Liverpool can afford to take a risk with. As much as he remains more than capable of playing in Europe at some level — and he wants to do that, ideally, rather than move to Saudi Arabia or MLS — it won’t be at Anfield.
Aston Villa has supposedly sounded the player out about staying in the Premier League, and Napoli is keen. And how either of those sides spends their money is up to them.
In terms of Liverpool, though, the Reds have already committed big sums to players who are older than they will target in the transfer market this summer. With Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk tied down for two more seasons, Arne Slot already has ample experience earning substantial wages.
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What the Liverpool boss needs next is a fresh injection of youthful energy at left-back, with Andy Robertson much closer to the end of his journey than the start, and possibly center-back as well. Even up front, Diogo Jota will turn 29 this year — signing an elite young striker in the coming months is nothing short of a must — and Luis Diaz is 28 too.
Losing the De Bruyne of right-backs that is Trent Alexander-Arnold and replacing him with the original version of the playmaker would, in some ways, make some sense. But the cost in terms of his salary and the age of the Manchester City great make it far too big a risk.
Bringing De Bruyne to Liverpool would, in one way, be romantic, but the Reds’ recruitment team doesn’t deal in emotions. The cold, hard data shows they need to be finding younger stars, not investing in another over 30.
Liverpool will not be signing De Bruyne. Quietly, what it actually quite urgently needs in the market is younger players with the potential to reach the level of those they would be lining up to replace.
