Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that he is in talks with Manchester City over extending his contract, with the Belgium midfielder currently representing himself in the negotiations after his former agent was arrested in August.
De Bruyne was part of the Belgium side that defeated England in the Nations League on Sunday and was asked about his contract situation at City before the match. The 28-year-old admitted that negotiations over an extension to his current deal which expires in 2023 have started but admitted that he has been operating without an agent since the arrest of his former representative Patrick De Koster on suspicion of money laundering, use of false documents and forgery in August.
“I am happy in Manchester,” De Bruyne told Belgian TV station VTM Nieuws. “I am at a good club. Good owners. Good club. We are a bit in talks – not advanced. At the moment I am doing the talks myself. I would like to stay with the club, so it’s easy. If I didn’t want to stay, it would take someone to mediate. But when you want to stay, it’s not so difficult.”
De Bruyne – who moved to City in 2015 for £55m from Wolfsburg – signed an extension to his contract in January 2018 and is expected to be offered a major increase in salary after winning the PFA player of the year last season. He had hinted in May that his future could lie elsewhere as City awaited the verdict on their appeal against a Champions League ban, which was eventually overturned by the court of arbitration for sport.