Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, distanced himself from the negotiations on Kevin de Bruyte’s new contract and insist that the discussions are between the player and the club.
De Bruyne has been increasingly disabled by injury issues in recent years. At the beginning of the season, the aging Belgian faced six weeks with a thigh problem that plagued him since he tore these muscles in the final of the Champions League 2023.
Even if it is available, De Bruyne no longer stays regularly in Guardiola’s starting positions. Last week, the city leader fell his longest reigning player for the second leg of the Champions League against Real Madrid and only gave him 12 starts from the first 26 top games of the season from the first 26 top games.
The decreasing playmaker will be a free agent in summer, but Guardiola has defiantly vague in relation to a new expansion for de Bruyne.
“He was and is – and hopefully it will – an extraordinary player,” the Catalan coach noticed this week. “He will be 34 years old at the end of the season and he has to decide. What happens, belongs to him and the club.”
Guardiola insisted that he did not weigh these discussions. “Nothing will change our relationship. We know each other quite well, but I think he has to choose in this situation.”
While the specific position of the manager was vague, Guardiola recently warned the core of City that he is only interested in players who can play physically every three days.
This attitude prompted Guardiola to ask whether the club had to go through a complete overhaul in summer. “No,” he replied. “We have already done it. After nine years, it is not the same team that we started nine years ago. We have already done it two or three times. It is not the biggest challenge.”
There is only one player in Manchester City who was in the club before taking over Guardiola: Kevin de Bruyne.