De Bruyne yet to open contract talks with Man City

Kevin De Bruyne has revealed he is yet to open talks over a new contract with Manchester City as he enters the final six months of his current deal.

De Bruyne can negotiate a free transfer to an overseas club in January, with the 33-year-old’s future at the Etihad Stadium in doubt.

He has been linked with clubs in the Saudi Pro League and MLS after enduring a frustrating start to the campaign, having been limited to just eight Premier League starts by injuries.

The Belgium star only has four goal involvements in 2024-25 (two goals, two assists), putting him on course for his least productive campaign since 2018-19, when he had two goals and two assists in another injury-hit season.

With City fifth in the Premier League table and struggling in the Champions League, many pundits have questioned whether an overhaul of their squad is in order, with De Bruyne one of several ageing stars to be linked with an exit.

Asked by The Independent whether he had opened talks over fresh terms with City, De Bruyne said: “No. Nothing yet.”

In all competitions, De Bruyne is averaging 0.2 goals, 0.2 assists and 3.11 chances created per 90 minutes this term, with all of those figures being his worst in any season since at least 2017-18.

His figure of 0.44 expected assists (xA) per 90 minutes, though, is better than he managed in six of his nine previous campaigns with City.

Having seen his season interrupted by an abdominal injury, De Bruyne returned to City’s starting lineup for Sunday’s 2-0 win over Leicester City.

City have now lost just one of their last 35 league games with the Belgian in their starting lineup (28 wins, six draws).

De Bruyne is now hoping to kick on, saying: “I hope to get better now. We have got an easier schedule.

“I hope that some training sessions in the next few weeks will get me into a better rhythm. With the injury I had, I took a while then I had four games in 10 days, which was hard.

“It’s a bit of everything. It’s not nice but there’s not a lot you can do about it, just wait. I hope to get better now.”

Speaking after Sunday’s win at the King Power Stadium, Pep Guardiola said there were no doubts about De Bruyne’s importance to his City side.

“I said many times there are no doubts about Kevin when Kevin is fit,” Guardiola said.

“He was one of the most impactful players in the history of City and the Premier League, but sometimes he didn’t feel well in the recent past and sometimes he needs physicality to feel good, like everyone.”