Kevin De Bruyne made a reference to the Saudi league during a recent interview. So it seems that he is interested in the idea of playing there. But this summer it will be particularly difficult.
The Saudis certainly spend enormous sums on football stars, but their budgets are not completely unlimited. This is why they usually target world-famous players whose contracts are expiring and who they can therefore sign for free.
This was particularly the case for Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. For Neymar, they took out the wallet and paid 90 million to recruit him to PSG. But salaries are still much higher than the transfer amounts they pay.
Kevin De Bruyne in Saudi Arabia? It’s not yet immediate…
They prefer to offer a high salary rather than pay a large transfer fee. For Kevin De Bruyne, this will not be possible this summer. He has one year left on his contract and Manchester City will not let him go without a fight. Het Laatste Nieuws reports it “officially”, but everyone could already suspect it.
Given that KDB can earn more than 70 million euros per year in one of the country’s big teams (Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahly and Al-Nassr), Saudi Arabia is still thinking before give it a try this summer.
It’s more likely they’ll wait another year until he’s free of contract. Manchester City could, in fact, ask for more than 100 million euros to release him before next summer.
