Kevin De Bruyne prepared to take on new role at Manchester City in bid to stay in Pep Guardiola’s squad | OneFootball

Manchester City may have received their first indication over what Kevin De Bruyne plans to do beyond the ongoing season with his existing contract expiring at the club.

The Belgian midfield is rapidly approaching the natural expiry of his current contract with the Premier League champions, with little to no indication that talks are in the pipeline over an extension at this moment in time.

De Bruyne has previously admitted that he put conversations over a new contract on hold last summer, and earlier in the ongoing campaign, opting to put full focus on recovering his own physical status amid injury frustrations.

However, as Manchester City will likely be starting their plans for the next campaign and particularly their recruitment strategy for the upcoming summer transfer window, De Bruyne’s future has once again come into question.

It also coincides with a reduced time on the playing field for City in the biggest of matches after he was left out entirely of the club’s UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off meeting with Real Madrid last week, before putting in an underwhelming showing against Liverpool.

Now, according to the information of The Times’ Paul Hirst, the most recent noises coming from Kevin De Bruyne’s camp suggest that the Belgium international wants to stay at Manchester City, despite interest from San Diego in Major League Soccer.

And from the side of the playing expectations and role to be undertaken by De Bruyne in any extended stay with the club, it is claimed that the 33-year-old is ‘OK’ with the idea of playing a ‘bit-part role’ from next season.

Speaking in early January, De Bruyne was quizzed on the growing speculation over his Manchester City future, to which he responded, “I don’t care. I’m just trying to get back to my level.

“I feel every week I’m getting better. I can (play) for 90 minutes now. It’s been an uncomfortable couple of months with the injury,” he continued.

The replacement of De Bruyne at the heart of Manchester City’s creative output will likely be one of the most complex operations that the club’s incoming sporting director Hugo Viana will have to execute in the coming months.

It is widely believed that the reigning Premier League champions have their eye on Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz as the successor to De Bruyne at the club, although there is strong competition for the German’s signature from the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.