Manchester City Skipper Kevin De Bruyne has made the decision to leave Manchester City to join one of the biggest clubs in world football
Ninety minutes has learned that the Saudi Pro League wants to sign both Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne this summer.
Saudi Arabia made big moves last summer to get Neymar, Fabinho, and Karim Benzema after they bought Cristiano Ronaldo. Now they are planning to try again to bring some of Europe’s biggest stars to the Middle East.
There is a list of almost 100 choices, with 20 main or “elite” targets. Saudi officials hope to persuade about half of these top candidates to make the move. The same thing was done in the summer of 2023 as well.
Right at the top of the list are Salah and De Bruyne, who 90min has heard have been named as the division’s two top goals.
Inside Saudi Arabia, some people think Salah would be willing to move there at some point. This summer, a new offer will be made for the Liverpool star because he is getting close to the end of his contract. It is not yet clear if he would be open to leaving Anfield this summer, as a choice on a new deal is not expected until later this year.
Some people in the Middle East are hopeful that Salah will move this summer.
De Bruyne, the playmaker for Manchester City, hasn’t said anything about wanting to move to Saudi Arabia yet through his agents.
City wants to sign De Bruyne to a new deal because his current one ends in 2025, and boss Pep Guardiola has said in public that he wants to keep working with the Belgian.
Guardiola said not long ago, “It’s up to him. I’d love for him to stay, but I don’t know.” “I’ve heard of some connections, but I don’t know if there’s an offer or if Saudi Arabia wants him.” I’d love for him to stay until the end of his career, but “everyone is everyone.”
If City were interested in selling, they would want a total deal worth much more than £100 million, maybe even closer to the £150 million that Liverpool was offered for Salah last summer.
Salah would love to play with Neymar (if he stays), Ruben Neves, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic at Al Hilal. De Bruyne, on the other hand, would probably be wanted by either Al Nassr or Al Ittihad, who are both working on deals to sign Manchester United centre back Raphael Varane.
The Saudi Arabian government would decide which club would make the last push for De Bruyne so that no two teams would compete with each other.
James Gill – Danehouse/GettyImages: Guardiola wants De Bruyne to sign a new deal.
Another player to keep an eye on is Thiago Alcantara. A number of Saudi teams are looking into signing the Liverpool midfielder to a pre-contract. Al Ettifaq is one of them.
Changes to the quota rules mean that 10 outsiders can play next season, but only two must have been born in 2003 or later. Keep an eye on some younger names. Even though most people want to buy, loans will be looked at in order to get a better look at promising players and meet with top clubs.
Eli Junior Kroupi of Lorient, Almugera Kabar of Dortmund, Facundo Gonzalez of Sampdoria (on loan from Juventus), and Ben Doak of Liverpool (who is currently hurt) are all being considered for short-term deals.
