Manchester City ace in 'talks' over exit at the end of this season with new club eyeing ambitious transfer

Manchester City face Liverpool on Sunday afternoon as they look to return to winning ways. Pep Guardiola’s side are sat in 4th place in the Premier League table.

They are a single point above both AFC Bournemouth and Chelsea inside the top four. It has been a disappointing season for the North West outfit and they will hope to find some consistency over the coming weeks.

City lost 3-1 away at Real Madrid in the Champions League last time out. They were beaten 6-3 on aggregate by the La Liga giants and are now out of the competition.

Kevin de Bruyne update at Manchester City

Kevin de Bruyne is in ‘talks’ over a move to San Diego FC from City when his contract expires at the end of the season and a deal is said to be ‘progressing’, according to TBR Football. The attacking midfielder is set to become a free agent in June as things stand.

De Bruyne, 33, has been a great servant to his current club over the past decade since joining them in 2015. He has made 208 appearances in all competitions and has scored 105 goals.

The Belgium international has won the league title, the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League with City. Prior to his switch to the Etihad Stadium, he previously had spells at Genk, Chelsea and Wolfsburg.

San Diego are joining the MLS this year and could see De Bruyne as someone to be the face of their new club. They were founded in May 2023 and made Mexico international Hirving Lozano one of their first main signings.

They also have former Manchester United player Paddy McNair on their roster, as well as ex-Nottingham Forest winger Alex Mighten.

What now for Manchester City?

City will hope to cause Liverpool some problems. They are sweating over the fitness of Erling Haaland as they prepare to take on Arne Slot’s men.

Speaking ahead of the game, Guardiola has said: “We are in a not bad moment. Apart from Madrid, who were the better team and are a better team right now. I had the feeling in recent years in the Champions League we can compete with any team. Always we were there.

“In previous seasons against that team - we feel it, they feel it - we were there and, in many aspects, better than them. This time we couldn’t go through and we accept the reality. Look at the situations now with two central defenders out for two months. This period in the Premier League is now massively important for us.

“In the Premier League we have done good, good games. Even when we lost 5-1 against Arsenal but we played very well for 60 minutes. The rest we were not stable.”