Kevin De Bruyne has seemingly made up his mind about his future after Manchester City, and it doesn’t involve a switch to Liverpool.
The Reds were mooted as a possible new home for the Belgian playmaker as he approaches the end of his 10-year spell at the Etihad, where he’s set to leave on a free transfer. There were fleeting whispers of Liverpool’s interest, though it’s understood the Merseyside club isn’t actively pursuing him.
Nonetheless, Liverpool’s own Mohamed Salah didn’t miss the chance to playfully suggest De Bruyne join him at Anfield. In a Sky Sports interview last week, Salah lauded De Bruyne’s impressive tenure at City before quipping: “We have space for him!”
While De Bruyne hasn’t dismissed the idea of discussions with other English teams following City’s FA Cup final loss, The Telegraph reports that he’s now looking beyond the Premier League for his next chapter.
It seems Serie A’s Napoli and MLS outfit Chicago Fire are leading the chase for De Bruyne, assuming the latest rumors hold water.
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Renowned football journalist David Ornstein shared his insights with NBC Soccer tonight, explaining: “There’s no decision so far on what he’s going to do next. I would expect that [to come] maybe within the next four weeks.”
He added: “I think it’s unlikely he’ll play at the FIFA Club World Cup for Manchester City as he’s got a couple of World Cup qualifiers with Belgium to focus on. We’ll see where he ends up next as there are opportunities in the MLS and in Europe, with Napoli in particular. Turkey, too.
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“The Premier League would hold possibilities but I think that’s unlikely on his behalf. There were suggestions of Liverpool, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think he’d want to play against Manchester City in the future.”
Liverpool.com says: It never really seemed that realistic that De Bruyne would be heading to Anfield, even if he was a Reds fan growing up.
As much as Liverpool might have been able to benefit from his creativity, especially with Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving, it’s not a transfer you’d associate with FSG – a player in his mid-30s who will no doubt be expecting big wages.
Anyway, if Florian Wirtz arrives at Anfield instead, Salah will probably soon forget about De Bruyne!
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Liverpool ECHO by clicking here.
