Kevin De Bruyne called in for showdown talks with Man City over Saudi 'agreement'

Kevin De Bruyne will reportedly be called in for showdown talks with Manchester City bosses when he returns to the Etihad Stadium ahead of the new campaign. The 33-year-old only has one more year remaining on his City contract and is said to have agreed personal terms on a transfer to Saudi giants Al-Ittihad.

De Bruyne has been one of City’s biggest stars since joining the club from Wolfsburg in August 2015.

And the Belgium international has helped his team win six Premier League titles, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

De Bruyne has refused to rule out a move to the Saudi Pro League, which captured former City stars Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte last summer.

And, according to the Daily Mail, City will initiate showdown talks to ascertain De Bruyne’s next steps when he returns to Manchester next month following his endeavours at Euro 2024.

The playmaker is currently still away from the club after helping Belgium reach the last-16 of the tournament in Germany, where they were knocked out by France.

City boss Pep Guardiola was quizzed about De Bruyne’s future ahead of his side’s first pre-season clash against Celtic in North Carolina on Tuesday evening. And the Spaniard avowed: “Kevin isn’t leaving.”

Discussing the club’s transfer preparations for the new campaign, the 53-year-old then added: “If someone leaves, we’re going to talk about that. Of course, until the last day, we have chances [to make transfers].

“I don’t rule it out the option to have new players but I think there is an 85, 90 per cent chance we will have the same squad. But we’ll see, I don’t know in the last moment if someone comes for some players and they leave, we’re going to decide.”

De Bruyne isn’t the only City player attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, with Al-Ittihad also said to be keen to prise goalkeeper Ederson away from the north west. The Citizens reportedly rejected a £25m bid for the player from Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr as they value the Brazil international at double that figure.

Striker Julian Alvarez, meanwhile, has piqued the interest of Atletico Madrid, with the 2022 World Cup winner rumoured to be growing frustrated at playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland at the Etihad Stadium.

City have another three matches in the USA after losing their clash against Celtic 4-3. The reigning Premier League champions will take on AC Milan in New York on Saturday, before facing Barcelona in Orlando next Tuesday. They will then end the tour four days later against Chelsea in Ohio.