At 32 years of age and injury prone, Kevin De Bruyne’s future at Man City isn’t as secure as it once was.
The elegant Belgian, so often the fulcrum of everything that Pep Guardiola wants to achieve, has been missing since injuring his hamstring in the opening game of the season against Burnley on August 11.
In the two and a half months since then, it’s clear that City have missed his creativity and energy at times, however, they are sat nicely in second place in the Premier League just two points behind leaders, Tottenham Hotspur, and also have a 100 percent record in the Champions League.
It could be argued that Guardiola’s swashbucklers are doing just fine without De Bruyne, and that, perhaps, they’ll let his contract run its course now – something unthinkable a few months ago.
That could also be because City have found their perfect replacement for him.
According to Sport, the current treble winners are targeting Bayern Munich’s brilliant Jamal Musiala.
Whilst the Bavarians are likely to put up a huge fight to keep the player, he is still, apparently, showing no sign of wanting to sign a new deal with the club.
The outlet note that contract conversations have been ongoing since April, but that the player isn’t convinced by his future role with Bayern.
At present, his contract runs until 2026, however, if there remains no breakthrough in talks, Musiala is likely to be moved on in the next 12-18 months.