De Bruyne’s Reported Liverpool Desire, Salah’s Endorsement, City’s Discontent

Kevin De Bruyne could fulfil a childhood dream with a move to Liverpool. The Belgian midfielder is set to leave Manchester City at the end of the season after not being offered a new deal.

De Bruyne has made no secret of his displeasure at being cast aside by City, speaking about his exit after the recent win at Goodison Park and making clear he didn’t care that CEO Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain were in earshot. His future remains up in the air amid interest from MLS, as well Premier League rivals Aston Villa. Now new contenders for his signature have emerged in the last 24 hours also.

According to reports in Italy, Napoli are interested in De Bruyne, while Liverpool have, it’s claimed, tabled a contract offer to tempt him to move to Anfield – although it’s something the club have played down. But becoming a Red would see De Bruyne make his childhood wish come true, having revealed his affection for the club regularly in the past.

“My favourite club is Liverpool and my favourite player is Michael Owen,” De Bruyne admitted as an 11-year-old while with Genk. “And I would love to play there one day.”

De Bruyne doubled down on that stance back in 2019 after being asked about his support of Liverpool. He said: “I was a Liverpool fan. My family that live in England were all Liverpool supporters so I was, too. I loved Michael Owen because I was really small like him and quick, too. I compared myself to him at the time. I liked [Zinedine] Zidane and Ronaldinho too – those really skilful players.”

And while De Bruyne has been a long-term Liverpool fan, it appears that one of his potential future teammates would give his approval to a move. Speaking earlier in his Anfield career, Mohamed Salah revealed that the Belgian was among one of his dream teammates.

He said: “Messi or Ronaldo, but if I pick one in the Premier League then I’d choose Kevin [De Bruyne]. He has vision, I’m sure he can find me anywhere with the ball so I would say Messi, Ronaldo and then Kevin.

“He’s a great player, the whole team (City) is great. But I just try to play my game and not focus on anyone else.”

Regardless of where his future lies, De Bruyne has also admitted that he will have to hold talks with both his past and new employers regarding his participation in this summer’s Club World Cup. The midfielder’s contract will expire midway through the tournament – and he remains clueless over whether he will play.

Asked if he will be going to the Club World Cup, he said: “I don’t know. For me, it will depend on whatever happens in the future, you know, depending on what team I’ll go to and what competition I’ll play in.

“Also, if the new team doesn’t want me to play and doesn’t want to risk whatever happens. I haven’t really spoken to City about it, so I don’t know. If they want to have a conversation, we can. But I’m not sure about this.”

Mirror.co.uk