Manchester City midfield marvel Kevin de Bruyne is reportedly a target for Italian giants Juventus. The Belgian has been at the Manchester club for five years and has won two Premier League titles, four League Cups and one FA Cup along with numerous individual honours.
According to Sport Mediaset (via BeSoccer), the Belgian midfielder could be lured to the Serie A side, although City are maintaining a firm ‘no sale’ stance. De Bruyne recently teased a potential exit from Manchester City when he said that he will review his future once he finds out the status of City’s Champions League ban appeal.
The midfielder, who has been influential in the City side, has three years remaining on his current deal at the Etihad. Kevin De Bruyne joined City from German club Wolfsburg, and previously played for Premier League side, Chelsea.
Kevin De Bruyne: Can City afford to let him go?
Kevin De Bruyne, like most top players in Europe, wants to win the Champions League, which is possibly why he is apprehensive about committing to City publicly. As things stand, City are set to miss out on Champions League action for the next two seasons following the ban by UEFA due to alleged Financial Fairplay violations.
De Bruyne has been one of Premier League’s best midfielders ever since his move and has become a vital cog in Guardiola’s side. The 28-year-old has bossed the midfield area with his exquisite passing and crossing, registering a whopping 86 assists in 209 games for City in all competitions.
He, along with David Silva and Fernandinho, formed one of the best midfield trios in Europe in the Guardiola era. De Bruyne’s tenacity and leadership on the pitch are two other important reasons – apart from his distribution – why City should do everything in their power to keep hold of the Belgian midfielder.
Losing De Bruyne to Juventus would be a major blow as there are very few midfielders in the world that can replace a genius footballer like the Belgian. The task to replace the midfielder is even tougher in this current financial climate where the pandemic has robbed all clubs of massive amounts of revenue.
Selling Kevin De Bruyne to a club like Juventus also weakens City’s opportunity to win the Champions League, as it strengthens a potential rival. City will lose Fernandinho in a season or two as the Brazilian’s career is coming to an end, while David Silva is leaving the club at the end of the 2019-20 season as well.
Losing three first-team midfielders will be a body blow for Guardiola, who will need a large sum of money to even come close to replacing the quantity of personnel, let alone quality. Keeping De Bruyne and building a new midfield around him should be the gameplan that City should focus on over the next few seasons, rather than selling him, however astronomic the incoming bids are.
