Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has confirmed that Premier League giants Manchester City have made contact with his representative, but has not closed the door on a move to any of his other suitors.
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Following his magnificent campaign in the Bundesliga, De Bruyne looks set to be the subject of some considerable transfer interest this summer.
As well as the two Manchester rivals, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are both believed to be keen on the Belgian playmaker [via Le 10 Sport].
De Bruyne has confirmed, speaking to Sky Sports News, that his representative has held initial talks with City.
“I know there are some informal contacts but we say to everybody – if they want to do something they have to go to Wolfsburg, not to me,” he said, as reported by Goal.
“I always thought that I was going to talk to my club first when the season was over. And for me the season is not over. That starts probably next week or the week after but I will also be on vacation,” he continued.
“I don’t have any stress about these things. It will come this way and I know that there are a lot of rumours and the papers are writing a lot.”
The 23-year-old managed 20 assists and 10 goals in 34 appearances for the Bundesliga side, while also managing five goals and five assists in 11 Europa League matches.
De Bruyne has previously featured for Chelsea in the Premier League, but moved to Wolfsburg in January 2014 for a fee of £18 million.
Considering the Wolves’ outlay, and the fact that the Belgian international signed a five-year deal with Dieter Hecking’s side, it would surely take a considerable transfer fee for either of the Manchester clubs to bring him back to England.
“It’s been for me a wonderful season,” he continued.
“I think the thing I’m most excited about is that I played almost everything, missed just one game, started everything and played everything.
“My time at Chelsea wasn’t bad,” de Bruyne concluded.
“Everybody talks about it and that it was really bad, but I just decided I didn’t want to stay at the club under those circumstances, I just wanted to play football and that’s what I did.”
City have already lost one midfielder this summer, with James Milner departing for Liverpool [Manchester Evening News], while the likes of Yaya Toure [Metro] and Sergio Aguero [MEN] have also been linked with the exit door at the Etihad Stadium.
United have also seen Radamel Falcao depart the club, while there are question marks over the futures of the likes of Angel Di Maria [Goal], Nani [MEN], Javier Hernandez [Metro] and Robin van Persie [ESPN]; should these players leave, then the Red Devils will be in even greater need of reinforcements. De Bruyne, on the back of his superb season in Germany, would surely pique the interest of van Gaal.