Favourites to sign Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City revealed | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne is moving closer towards a switch over to the MLS as the favourites to sign the Manchester City captain on a free transfer this summer have been revealed.

Manchester City officials sat down with the 33-year-old earlier this year to gauge clarity around the midfielder’s future and insisted upon their intention not to offer a contract renewal beyond his existing deal.

As such, Kevin De Bruyne will be leaving the Etihad Stadium upon the expiry of his existing contract which runs until this summer, enabling him to join any club willing to make a proposal via a free transfer.

Unsurprisingly, interest in the Manchester City great has been rife since his announcement of his exit to supporters, with potential suitors emerging in Saudi Arabia, the United States, Italy, and even in England, according to some reports.

But with only a handful of games remaining in the English game with Manchester City, as well as the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup over in the US, the favourites to secure De Bruyne’s signature have now emerged.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio, who reveals that the Chicago Fire are now favourites to sign Kevin De Bruyne this summer, with the indication being that the Belgian would prefer a move to the MLS club over doing a deal in Saudi Arabia.

There has long been a feeling that a move to the United States would appeal to De Bruyne and his young family more than any other potential destination, with San Diego tipped as a preferred option at one stage.

David Beckham’s Inter Miami were also mooted as early frontrunners for the midfielder shortly after the player’s exit announcement dropped on social media, only for Chicago Fire to make the first formal move via a contractual proposal.

As for Manchester City and what comes next in a post-Kevin De Bruyne era, the likes of Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain will be hard at work to ensure they secure themselves a suitable replacement for arguably the club’s greatest-ever player as soon as possible.

Bayer Leverkusen and Germany international Florian Wirtz is seen by many to be the primary candidate to come in and take on such a task, while there is also interest from the Etihad Stadium in Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.