The Kevin De Bruyne situation at Manchester City has turned into a fairly big talking point in recent weeks.
Manchester City are in awful form at the moment, and the Belgian has been back in training for weeks now.
He made his return to match action in the 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP in the Champions League, but still hasn’t played from the start since coming back into the picture.
Pep Guardiola said that De Bruyne was pain-free before the Tottenham Hotspur game, but he’s still not played from the start since those comments.
On Sunday, Man City fans criticised Guardiola for only giving De Bruyne 15 minutes against Liverpool.
Jamie Carragher speculated something has happened behind the scenes with De Bruyne, but Guardiola played down anything like that in his press conference on Tuesday.
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Now, pundit Gary Neville has been speaking about De Bruyne – and floated one idea that will make some fans a little uncomfortable.
Gary Neville wonders if Kevin De Bruyne could leave Man City in January like Joao Cancelo did
Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at City of...
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
There is definitely a strange feel to the De Bruyne situation right now.
Simply because City have struggled so much lately, but the manager hasn’t been starting him.
It’s probably just to do with his fitness, but of course, there’s been a lot of speculation it’s something more than that.
Neville spoke about De Bruyne in a new video for The Overlap US YouTube channel, and actually suggested the Belgian could leave in January.
He said: “He was warming up in that corner in front of the City fans and I think De Bruyne wouldn’t ordinarily warm up for that length of time.
“There’s something happened. De Bruyne has got it in him, we know that from a couple of his press conferences with Belgium over the last few years. He can be quite provocative, he obviously has got a little bit about him and you would have if you’re one of the greatest players in the Premier League.
“Maybe something has happened. But I think they would keep it in-house. Decorum would be important to De Bruyne, they’ve achieved so much together. There’s no way they going to call each other out publicly, that would be a real mess.
“I’m going to say something now which may not happen, and I hope it doesn’t happen. Would it be a shock in January if, all of a sudden, he was just out the door for no reason? You look at what happened with (Joao) Cancelo, that came completely out of the blue.
“I don’t think it will happen, but it wouldn’t be ridiculous to think if there has been a fracture, they’re keeping it quiet until January, and it’s just going to be a case of ‘Right, he’s gone and we’re going to bring someone in as an example’.
“I hope that doesn’t happen because I want to see Kevin De Bruyne play football in the Premier League, he’s amazing.”
De Bruyne will not leave Man City in January
While the situation is undoubtedly a little strange, De Bruyne surely isn’t going to leave the Etihad Stadium in January.
He’s got a contract until the end of the season. So even if there has been a failing out that they’re trying to keep in-house, surely a January exit is not an option.
Kevin De Bruyne for Man City (2015-present)
Appearances – 393
Goals – 103
Assists – 170
Trophies won -18
De Bruyne surely knows that leaving in that way would leave fans devastated.
He’s, for many, the greatest player ever to play for City, and many want him to get the farewell he deserves. For him to leave in a January window six months before his contract is up would be both baffling and gutting.
There’s surely just no way he’d leave in January out of the blue like Cancelo did. That was a very different situation, with the player having years left on his contract.
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