Officials from the Saudi Pro League are reportedly willing to offer Manchester City over £100m to sign one of their star players.
During the previous summer transfer window, City sold Riyad Mahrez to Al-Ahli for £30m and Aymeric Laporte to Al Nassr for £23m.
Despite these two departures, as well as seeing Cole Palmer and Ilkay Gundogan leave the club, the Manchester club still managed to win the Premier League title, making them the first side to win four in a row.
Now that another summer transfer window is close to opening, a journalist has shared some behind-the-scenes details regarding another City player the Saudi group have got their eyes on and what they could do to land a deal for him.
Saudi prepared to offer over £100m for Kevin De Bruyne
Speaking to Caught Offside for his Daily Briefing column, Jacobs had this to say about the Saudi Pro League’s interest in Kevin De Bruyne.
He said: “Kevin De Bruyne remains a Saudi target, but the Belgian has not yet given any indication he wants to leave Manchester City.
“A transfer is also arguably harder to pull off this summer because of Euro 2024. Players like De Bruyne will only be focused on that tournament and the season will start shortly after.
“De Bruyne is not the kind of player that will want uncertainty over his future. If he was to move he would want to do so before the season starts rather than at the end of the window.
“It’s been clear for some time Manchester City want him to extend. Saudi dealmakers are prepared to be patient.
“They will try for De Bruyne in 2025 if they feel it’s a lost cause this summer. But until De Bruyne puts pen to paper, Saudi officials will continue to take meetings with the De Bruyne camp and are prepared to offer over £100m to Manchester City.
“It is an ambitious swoop to pull off, but the Saudi project isn’t afraid to try for these kind of bold moves.”
Saudi’s previous interest in De Bruyne
The midfielder reportedly turned down a €70m-per-year (£59m-per-year) offer to follow Mahrez and Laporte to the Middle East, but that hasn’t appeared to diminish the Saudi league’s interest in De Bruyne.
Even though the Belgian missed a lot of the latest season through injury, he still managed to score six goals and provide 18 assists in 26 games across all competitions.
With that in mind, we feel that De Bruyne is undoubtedly a key figure for the Citizens, who should not be looking to cash in on the midfielder.