Revealed: Kevin De Bruyne’s conversation with Liverpool and ‘proving Manchester City wrong’ | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne held a brief conversation with Manchester City’s Premier League rivals Liverpool as he weighed up his options earlier this summer, according to new reports.

The 33-year-old brought an emotional end to his 10-year stay at the Etihad Stadium following the conclusion of the last campaign, with Manchester City decision makers coming to a difficult conclusion regarding the playmaker’s future.

With De Bruyne’s contract expiring at the end of June 2025, City officials including Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano, alongside input from head coach Pep Guardiola, opted not to offer extended and renewed terms to the Belgium international.

As such, that enabled the midfielder to take a new direction in his top-level career, deciding between widespread proposals from clubs all over the world, whilst keeping in mind the needs and preferences of his own career and his young family.

Ultimately, it was a contract with the newly-crowned Serie A champions that proved most appealing, but only after an extensive period of deliberation between options put to him, including a discussion with one Premier League club.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s Sam Lee, who reveals that Kevin De Bruyne spent ‘around a month’ weighing up whether to move to MLS’ Chicago Fire or Napoli, after interest from the likes of Juventus, Inter Miami, and even a conversation with Liverpool.

It is explained that initially De Bruyne and his family had hoped to stay in the north west of England and a move to another Premier League club would have been considered, although there are ‘conflicting accounts’ of who approached who in the case of Arne Slot’s side.

As for Juventus, the Italians are said to have made contact over a deal being possible, but only in the event of certain players leaving for certain money, while Galatasaray also registered their interest.

Saudi Arabia was long mooted as a possible destination, but The Athletic report that the Middle-East was never really considered an option, and no formal approach was made with De Bruyne feeling he could still perform at a higher level.

Ultimately it was Napoli’s lure of Champions League football and Antonio Conte that were among deciding factors, with sources noting that the legendary Manchester City midfielder was partly motivated by proving his now-former club wrong for letting him go.

Hugo Viana – Manchester City’s sporting director – has moved swiftly to ensure that the club’s future beyond Kevin De Bruyne is in the best-possible hands, securing a move with Lyon for France international Rayan Cherki.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed a bright start to life on the pitch for Pep Guardiola’s squad out at the FIFA Club World Cup, scoring a sensational goal from distance to put the icing on the cake in a 6-0 group stage win over Al Ain.

There is a long way to go before anyone can safely say that Kevin De Bruyne has been effectively replaced, but the signs are certainly promising when it comes to the unknown future of Manchester City without one of the all-time greatest-ever midfielders.