As Liverpool supporters pay attention, Pep Guardiola finally clarifies Kevin De Bruyne’s transfer future

Liverpool won’t have any benefits when vying for the Premier League title since Manchester City won’t be trading Kevin De Bruyne this summer.

Pep Guardiola has stated that Kevin De Bruyne will remain at Manchester City, and the Premier League champion will probably have the same team available for the upcoming campaign.

The head coach of City announced that De Bruyne will not be leaving the team, dispelling any rumours that the midfield player was about to depart after reportedly reaching a personal terms agreement with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. The 33-year-old De Bruyne was about to reach the last year of his contract, so there was a lot of talk that City would take the Saudi money and cash in on him.

Rival Premier League teams’ supporters started to rejoice as De Bruyne proved to be a valuable asset to City and cemented his place as one of the greatest midfield players in league history. The Belgian has been instrumental in City’s recent domination, inflicting damage on Liverpool as a result of their defeat in many Premier League title contests.

Before City’s preseason match against Celtic, which marked the beginning of their U.S. tour, Guardiola declared: “Kevin isn’t leaving.”

If someone departs, we will discuss that. Guardiola added, “Of course, until the last day, we have chances (to make transfers),” as he carried on talking about the remaining players on the roster and possible trades. Although I don’t discount the possibility of adding new players, I believe there is an 85–90% likelihood that our current roster will remain intact.

“I am at ease because our squad consists of people whose calibre is hard to replace and will always remain.” But we’ll see. I’m not sure if we’ll make a decision at the last minute if someone comes for some players and they depart.

It would be nearly difficult to replace De Bruyne, and although it will inevitably happen in the future, Guardiola is positive that he won’t have to deal with it this summer. Only one new player has been added to City during the transfer season, with the $43.6 million purchase of 20-year-old winger Savinho.

The $40.3 million in sales made by Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle, and Sergio Gomez more than paid for Savinho’s compensation. After winning the Premier League for a record-tying fourth time in a row last season, Guardiola’s team is expected to win the championship once more in 2024–2025.

In recent years, a rivalry has developed between City and Liverpool, with both teams flourishing under respective managers, Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. Although Liverpool did experience success and put an end to its thirty-year league title drought, City has won more trophies than any other English team since Guardiola took over.

There have been rumours that Guardiola may step down soon, which might have an effect on City’s dominance as it changes. After feeling at ease under Klopp for over nine years, Liverpool is facing the same dilemma with new head coach Arne Slot.

Despite a significant obstacle in his first season, Slot is seen as the ideal candidate for the position. Guardiola’s confirmation of De Bruyne’s stay means he will have to play at full strength against City.