Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has held talks with MLS outfit San Diego FC ahead of the expiry of his Citizens contract at the end of the season, the American club's sporting director has confirmed.
The 33-year-old will be departing the Premier League champions for nothing in June as things stand, and a lucrative switch to either MLS or Saudi Arabia has been mooted for the veteran playmaker.
It has been reported that De Bruyne could choose to stay at City, though, as the former Chelsea and Wolfsburg man is eyeing a place in Belgium's squad for the 2026 World Cup.
However, there appears to have been no progress in contract discussions with De Bruyne, who has already played a bit-part role this season with just 12 starts in the English top flight.
The midfielder is currently free to hold talks with foreign teams over a pre-contract agreement, and San Diego sporting director Tyler Heaps has revealed that discussions have taken place with De Bruyne's camp.
MLS chief reveals why De Bruyne will not join
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As quoted by The Sun, Heaps confirmed that he had been in dialogue with the 33-year-old's agent, although a move is currently off the cards due to De Bruyne's extortionate wage packet.
"Those rumours, I don't know where they come from. I talked to the agent. The agent has many players, obviously," Heaps said. "Every time I see it, I say, 'Are you the one that is saying all this stuff?'
"He's a fantastic footballer and he loves this area. He goes on holidays here every single year, but I'm not sure where that rumour keeps coming from. I've had conversations with him, but I'll tell you what, those wages won't fit our budget at the moment in terms of what his expectations are."
According to Capology, De Bruyne earns a weekly salary of £400,000 at the Etihad Stadium, making him Pep Guardiola's second-highest paid player behind Erling Haaland, who pockets £525,000 per week.
The ex-Chelsea starlet has contributed four goals and seven assists from 30 appearances in all tournaments this season, taking his terrific total for the Citizens to 106 goals and 174 assists in 412 matches since joining in 2015.
Which possible De Bruyne replacements are Man City targeting?
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Both Guardiola and Man City fans would surely only be too happy to see De Bruyne stick around for another year, but the Belgian is coming towards the final years of his career and is not a long-term option.
Omar Marmoush has made a positive impression since his January arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt, although the early indications are that the Egypt international will act as a Julian Alvarez replacement rather than a De Bruyne successor.
Instead, Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz is thought to be City's number one target to fill De Bruyne's boots, although they will face stiff competition from Bayern Munich to land the £125m-rated playmaker.
Bayern's own Jamal Musiala was tipped as a potential replacement too, but he recently ended speculation over his future by signing a new long-term contract until the summer of 2030.
Ben Knapton
