De Bruyne confirms contact with City

The 23-year-old Kevin De Bruyne told Sky Sports News HQ that there had been “informal contact” with Manchester City but that the decision would ultimately rest with Wolfsburg since the former Chelsea man is only one season into his five-year contract.

“We say to everybody – if they want to do something they have to go to Wolfsburg, not to me,” De Bruyne said.

“I always thought that I was going to talk to my club first when the season was over. And for me the season is not over. That starts probably next week or the week after but I will also be on vacation,” De Bruyne said.

“I don’t have any stress about these things. It will come this way and I know that there are a lot of rumours and the papers are writing a lot.”

Playing time will be a key factor in any decision to leave, as it was when De Bruyne made the move from Chelsea last year.

The 23-year old Belgian talent joined Chelsea at the start of the 2012-13 season and was loaned to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. The first half of 2013-14 saw him on the fringes of the Chelsea squad and was sold in the 2014 January Transfer Window Wolfsburg for £18m.

The 2014-15 season saw De Bruyne’s stock rise phenomenally. The Belgian youngster scored 16 goals and had 28 assists. His total of 21 assists in the Bundesliga is a record. He has the most domestic league assists in the top 5 European leagues, ahead of Lionel Messi (18) and Cristiano Ronaldo (16). De Bruyne helped Wolfsburg beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the German Cup final and helped the side finish second in the Bundesliga.

“It’s been for me a wonderful season,” De Bruyne added. “I think the thing I’m most excited about is that I played almost everything, missed just one game, started everything and played everything.

“My time at Chelsea wasn’t bad. Everybody talks about it and that it was really bad but I just decided I didn’t want to stay at the club under those circumstances, I just wanted to play football and that’s what I did.”

Manchester City, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are reported to be interests. This news would give massive boost to the Citizens as they look to revamp their ageing squad with young talent. Wolfsburg have made it clear that they would not sell their star player who is just 18 months into a 5 year contract. Fees in the northward region of £35 M would at least make them consider such offers.