A number of world football’s biggest stars will become free agents at the end of the season unless they sign contract extensions in the near future.
Among them are Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, and Bayern Munich duo Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies.
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However, perhaps the biggest of all the names who could be out of contract come July is Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
Since moving to the Etihad from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in 2015, the Belgian superstar has been one of the planet’s most outstanding midfielders, steering City to six Premier League titles and a first-ever Champions League triumph, thanks to his second-to-none passing range and unmatched football intelligence.
Previously described by City boss Pep Guardiola as “irreplaceable”, the Spaniard may soon have to do his best to try to find De Bruyne’s successor if he does not extend his stay in Manchester. Here are five players City could turn to if that happens.
1 Florian Wirtz Bayer Leverkusen
According to German newspaper BILD, City are one of a number of clubs who are in the running to sign Bayer Leverkusen starlet Florian Wirtz next summer.
BILD claims that City, as well as Arsenal and Real Madrid, have a “good chance” of signing the 21-year-old, who was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season last term thanks to his outstanding performances for Leverkusen as they secured a first-ever German top-flight title. Leverkusen are thought to want a massive £126m for the player.
According to Spanish newspaper AS (as per Sport Witness), City see Wirtz as the “perfect” replacement for De Bruyne and believe he would complement compatriot Ilkay Gundogan in their midfield.
Like De Bruyne, Wirtz is comfortable operating in tight spaces, and has a good knack for teeing up his teammates and finding the net himself, as demonstrated by his 18 goals and 20 assists in all competitions last season. De Bruyne put up similar numbers for City during the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons.
2 Cole Palmer Chelsea
City sold Cole Palmer to Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for a fee of £40m. At the time, eyebrows were raised over why the Blues splashed such a large sum on a player with barely a handful of City starts to his name.
However, that fee now seems minuscule for a man who was arguably the Premier League’s most outstanding player last term.
Since joining Chelsea, Palmer has scored 33 goals and provided 20 assists in just 57 games – statistics that are unmatched by any other midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues over the same period.
Guardiola has been astute with his purchases and letting players go when the time is right throughout his career. However, he appears to have made an error in judgment in the case of Palmer.
A recent report from Spain claims the Spanish manager, prompted by the uncertain future of De Bruyne, is ready to admit his mistake and launch an attempt to re-sign the 22-year-old star.
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1 ByBarney LaneOct 11, 2024 3 Xavi Simons RB Leipzig
Despite being only 21 years old, Xavi Simons has been around for what seems like forever.
Originally a product of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy, the Dutch prodigy joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 when he was just 16 years old. After two years of watching from the stands in the French capital, he was eventually sold to Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven.
At the Philips Stadion, Simons proved why PSG were wrong to never give him his chance, scoring 22 goals and providing 12 assists, helping the club lift both the KNVB Cup and Johan Cruyff Shield.
Following his impressive debut season in the Netherlands, he was loaned out to RB Leipzig, where he remains today and has continued his fine form. Last season, he scored 10 times and assisted 15 for the Red Bulls, while this term, he has 5 goal contributions in 10 games.
According to Football Insider, with Simons now flourishing, City have set their sights on the Dutchman as the long-term successor to De Bruyne, with the Leipzig star thought to be seen as a “priority target” by Guardiola.
4 Eberechi Eze Crystal Palace
Looking at Eberechi Eze’s stats for Crystal Palace last year – 11 goals and 6 assists in 31 games – you’d be forgiven for thinking the English midfielder was nothing to rave about. Watch him play, however, and you’d quickly realise that he is, in fact, a special player.
The 26-year-old plays with a freedom and swagger that few in world football do, willfully dribbling in and out of opponents as if they were mere training ground dummies and sliding passes through gaps the eyes of mortals cannot see.
“Eze is unique in the fact he can glide with the ball and beat four, five, six men at a time,” the former Everton and England midfielder Leon Osman said of the Palace star after he made his debut for the Three Lions back in June.
“There’s not an awful lot of players who can do that and he does it with such grace. It’s so good to watch.”
According to reports in Spain, City tried and failed to lure Eze away from Selhurst Park in the summer, but are now said to be ready to meet Palace’s demands and splash £75m on the midfielder to finally get him in a Sky Blue shirt.
5 Jamal Musiala Bayern Munich
City have been linked with Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala for a number of years, and they have recently been handed a potentially huge boost in their reported pursuit of the Germany midfielder.
The Mirror reported in September (via Daily Express) that Musiala turned down a new contract offer from Bayern, with the 21-year-old holding out for wages in excess of £300,000 per week, which the player’s advisers believe represents his value.
With Musiala’s current deal expiring in the summer of 2026, Bayern will now have to sell the former Chelsea youngster next summer to avoid losing him for free later down the line – and City are said to be ready to pounce, with the Mirror naming them as favourites.
He wouldn’t come cheap, though, with Bayern understood to value him at around £120m.