Guardiola assures the midfielder will stay at the club

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne still has a lot to offer his team and, as such, will not be leaving the club this summer. 

Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has been linked with a move out of Manchester City, with strong interest coming from Saudi Arabian clubs. The Belgian has a year left on his contract with Manchester City and has personally shown interest in staying back at Etihad Stadium despite the tempting offers.

Pep Guardiola made the statement about De Bruyne’s future ahead of Manchester City’s Wednesday friendly fixture in the USA against Celtic in North Carolina.

“Kevin isn’t leaving. If someone leaves, we are going to talk about that, and, of course, until the last day [of the transfer window], we have chances. I don’t rule out new players as an option, but I think there is an 85, 90, 95% chance we will have the same squad.” Guardiola said.

Kevin de Bruyne has won 17 major trophies under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as he also helped City win a fourth consecutive Premier League title last season and his sixth Premier League title in total at the club.

Meanwhile, despite the assurances from Pep Guardiola, reports indicate that Manchester City will try to sign Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze as a replacement for De Bruyne.

De Bruyne is not the only Manchester City player that has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia as Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson has also been heavily linked towards a move to the Asian nation.

Manchester City faces AC Milan at the weekend in another international friendly before playing Barcelona next week on Tuesday. Their last preseason friendly will be a fixture against Chelsea on August 3 before their community shield fixture against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on August 10.