Man City name Kevin De Bruyne price tag as Saudi Arabia transfer interests mounts

The recent injury comeback of Kevin De Bruyne has greatly increased Manchester City’s chances of winning a trophy at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old sustained a hamstring injury during City’s Premier League opening day victory over Burnley in August, which sidelined him until this month.

After making his Premier League comeback this month, the Belgian scored and provided an assist in City’s 3-2 victory over Newcastle United on the road. This gave Pep Guardiola’s team a significant boost going into the second half of the season as City looks to hold onto its FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League titles.

After becoming a revelation since joining the team in 2015 for £55 million from Wolfsburg, City will obviously want to keep De Bruyne at the Etihad Stadium for as long as possible. The offensive midfielder will go down as one of the finest players the club has ever had.

Guardiola declared after the midfielder’s comeback to action: “Kevin is a legend.” Our people adore him, and maybe in these final few months, he can support us through it all.

“Players like Kevin are what we need. In the latter third, we need him to do something exceptional. That is talent, individual talent, not tactical competence.”

With his current contract expiring in the summer of 2025, he will have just under 18 months remaining on it

According to certain reports, De Bruyne’s contract may be extended by City until the summer of 2026, meaning he would remain with the team for more than ten years.

Nonetheless, there appears to be interest in the Belgian’s skills in Saudi Arabia, with two clubs in particular reportedly showing interest.

De Bruyne and Mo Salah of Liverpool are the two most prominent targets that Saudi Arabian teams have their minds set on this summer. According to Caught Offside, both Al Nassr and Al Hilal, owned by Cristiano Ronaldo, have their sights set on De Bruyne.

Though Guardiola and City are keen to extend De Bruyne’s time at the club, they have also set an expected fee of at least £100m for the Belgian if they are to part ways.

Time will tell if the offer from the Middle East is sufficient enough to prise De Bruyne away from the Premier League