The offseason is here and with that, we’re about to see a lot of comings and goings. We’ll focus on potential incomings later, but for now we’re going to look at two Manchester City stars, Kevin de Bruyne and Julian Alvarez, who could depart the club someday soon. Let’s examine where they might go, starting with De Bruyne, who was asked about the possibility of signing for a Saudi Pro League club.
It’s an “incredible amount” of money, the midfield maestro said to Belgian outlet Het Laatste Nieuws.
“For (his wife) Michele, an exotic adventure is okay,” De Bruyne said.
“These are also conversations that we are increasingly having as a family. At my age you have to be open to everything. You’re talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that.
“If I play there for two years, I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money. Before that I had to play football for 15 years. I may not even reach that amount yet.”
De Bruyne, 32, has a current transfer value between €29.3M and €48.8M according to Football Transfers. He signed at Man City from vlf Wolfsburg for €76M in 2015.
Given that his former teammate Riyad Mahrez makes €52M per season in Saudi Arabia, it is likely that De Bruyne would make about 10-20M more Euro than Mahrez in salary, should he decide to make the switch.
“Then you have to think about what that could mean next. But at the moment I haven’t had to think about that yet,” De Bruyne continued.
“I still have one year left on my contract, so I have to think about what could happen. My eldest is now eight-years-old and knows nothing but England.
“He also asks how long I will play for City. Once the moment comes, we will have to deal with it in a certain way.”
If he does leave, it would likely not be this summer.
Elsewhere, Julian Alvarez is a big time scorer, who is very productive on the pitch. The forward does get a decent amount of playing time at City, but does he want to stay second fiddle to Erling Haaland again this season? He is not doing to usurp the big Norwegian on the depth chart and that is a simple fact.
So would he want to leave and go to a club where he would be the primary striker/No. 9/centre forward? Of course, he would want to stay at a top notch club, where he could continue winning trophies.
Atletico Madrid could be that destination, according to Marca, who report that Madrid’s second biggest and most successful team are looking to procure the Argentinian away from the Etihad and to the Spanish capital. Get Football News Spain has more.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.