Yesterday saw Kevin De Bruyne confirm that the 24/25 season will be his last at Manchester City. It is sad news to see the Belgian international confirm his time is up at the Etihad. Now the world champions will be tasked with replacing the irreplaceable. No player can fill De Bruyne’s shoes. They are for De Bruyne only given his standing in the game. But now it seems that two players could be Manchester City’s targets to fill the void that De Bruyne’s departure will create.
The first candidate to fill the De Bruyne role is an obvious one.
James Holland has reported for TeamTalk that Manchester City are keen to sign Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz. It is included in Holland’s report that Bayer Leverkusen could demand £109 million to sell Wirtz this summer. But that is dependent on whether or not Wirtz signs a contract extension with Bayern Leverkusen. It is included in Holland’s report that Leverkusen has offered Wirtz a contract extension.
The case for Manchester City to sign Florian Wirtz is almost overwhelming. He isn’t the same type of player as De Bruyne; Wirtz is more a goal scorer and could tuck into the Manchester City squad playing on the left-hand side as a number 10. Wirtz thrives in the half-space behind a frontman and can drift all over the pitch. But you can see where he’d fit into Pep Guardiola’s squad in light of De Bruyne’s upcoming departure. Wirtz is an obvious target for Pep Guardiola’s side. If Wirtz doesn’t want to leave Germany then perhaps another Belgian international could be the player City look to sign to fill a void in their squad.
An Atalanta attacker could be another player to slot into Pep Guardiola’s squad.
The second player who could be one of Manchester City’s targets to add more creativity to Pep Guardiola’s squad is Charles De Ketelaere. The Belgian international has impressed for Atalanta since signing for the club after a tough spell at AC Milan. He has scored 11 goals and added 11 assists in 43 appearances this season for Atalanta. He is a versatile player who can score a goal and has an eye for a pass. De Ketelaere has primarily played as a centre-forward and as an attacking midfielder for Atalanta as per statistics sourced from transfermarkt.com. Technically, De Ketelaere has the skills to play in Pep Guardiola’s side, although he’s a different type of player to De Bruyne.
Esteemed Kompany sources have learned that De Ketelaere looms as a Manchester City target if they fail to sign Florian Wirtz this summer. Furthermore, it has also been revealed that Atalanta’s asking price to sell the Belgian international isn’t expected to ...
