Manchester City are set to increase their efforts to sign Vfl Wolfsburg’s Kevin De Bruyne this weekend, as the player is in England for the Emirates Cup.
The Belgium international is currently in action in north London for Arsenal’s summer competition, and according to the Manchester Evening News, the playmaker’s representative, Patrick De Koster, has travelled with his client to continue talks with Sky Blues director of football Txiki Begiristain.
The Manchester newspaper claim that Begiristain was originally thought to have not have travelled with the Citizens on their pre-season tour of Australia to finalise a deal for Fulham’s Patrick Roberts; however, it is suggested that he may have remained so as to negotiate with De Bruyne’s agent.
Arsenal, therefore, may have inadvertently boosted their Premier League rivals’ hopes of strengthening their midfield this summer.
Manchester Evening News state that Wolfsburg are demanding £60m for his signature, while City are said to value the 24-year-old at £40m.
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De Bruyne was in formidable form last season – breaking a Bundesliga record with 21 assists in a single campaign – and it’s little wonder that he has attracted such significant interest this summer.
At the end of the 2014-15 campaign, it was suggested that Manuel Pellegrini could make the signing of homegrown talent a priority [via the Telegraph] – and having now secured the signings of English duo Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph [via Sky Sports], the Chilean manager may be able to turn his attention to talent across Europe – perhaps starting with the Belgium playmaker.