Kevin de Bruyne to San Diego NOT advanced as Man City icon’s preferred next move clarified

Ben Jacobs 25 Feb 2025 6:44 PM

Man City ace Kevin de Bruyne is not on the verge of joining San Diego

San Diego have made no new progress on signing Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne on a free transfer this summer despite suggestions a deal is close. San Diego have engaged in early-stage talks but no transfer is close yet.

The California-based club have been in contact with De Bruyne’s entourage for several months, with the midfielder set to be out of contract in June.

San Diego have signed Andres Dreyer and Chucky Lozano as Designated Players for the 2025 season. There is no guarantee they add another DP this season.

De Bruyne could yet sign a contract extension with Man City, but the most concrete interest in the £400,000 per week star to date has come from Major League Soccer and the Saudi Pro League.

Reports in the last few days have claimed that San Diego are now close to reaching a full agreement with De Bruyne, but those claims are premature currently.

There has been no new developments since first revealed San Diego had De Bruyne on their radar last year.

De Bruyne prefers MLS switch to Saudi move – sources

The race for De Bruyne is open at this stage. A switch to the MLS could yet come from a centrally-negotiated deal, similar to the one that saw Lionel Messi move to Inter Miami, but nothing is advanced to date.

As mentioned, Saudi have also shown firm interest in De Bruyne but the Belgian international is understood to prefer a move to the United States, or to stay in Europe.

Per the Premier League’s rules regarding players on expiring deals, De Bruyne is able to hold pre-contract talks with foreign clubs ahead of a free transfer in the summer.

We expect to hear more on the Man City star in March. Pep Guardiola is keen to for De Bruyne to extend by a further year, while San Diego would be willing to revisit a move for the Belgian in 2026 if that scenario emerges.

When asked if he could sign a contract extension in an interview in January, De Bruyne said: “I’ve not spoken to them for the moment.

“I wanted to get better, I’m doing better, so I’m happy. We’ll see, something will happen.”

Kevin de Bruyne’s Man City achievements

By Samuel Bannister

De Bruyne was a big signing for City in August 2015, but expectations were mixed of how he would do.

In the decade since, De Bruyne has gone on to:

Be named on the 23-man shortlist for the 2015 Ballon d’Or (October 2015)
Score the winning goal to take City to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time ever (April 2016)
Win his first of five EFL Cups, the first trophy of Pep Guardiola’s City reign (February 2018)
Get the assist for the goal that enabled champions City to reach 100 points in the 2017-18 Premier League season (May 2018)
Win the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award for having the most assists (May 2018)
Score a goal and provide two assists to help City complete the treble by winning the 2018-19 FA Cup (May 2019)
Score the goal that would be chosen as City’s goal of the season against Newcastle (November 2019)
Reach 50 goals for City by scoring against Real Madrid in the Champions League (February 2020)
Equal Thierry Henry’s record for the most assists in a Premier League season with 20 (July 2020)
Become the first ever City player to win the PFA Player of the Year award (September 2020)
Help City reach the Champions League final for the first time (April 2021)
Win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the second time (June 2021)
Score four goals in just 24 minutes to inspire a 5-1 win over Wolves, including the third-quickest Premier League hat-trick ever all scored with his ‘weak’ foot (May 2022)
Match the City record for the most club player of the season wins by claiming a fourth title after also being their top scorer in the league for 2021-22 (May 2022)
Be voted the Premier League Player of the Season for a second time (May 2022)
Finally win the Champions League after scoring in three consecutive semi-finals (June 2022)
Earn the Premier League Playmaker of the Season title for a third time (May 2023)
Win his second FA Cup with City, starting in the win over rivals Man Utd in the final (June 2023)
Reach the landmark of 100 goals for City (April 2024)
Become a Premier League winner for the sixth time (May 2024)