De Bruyne misses Wolfsburg training
Kevin De Bruyne missed Wolfsburg training on Tuesday but Manchester City have yet to make an offer, coach Dieter Hecking has said.
Wolfsburg announced on their official website that De Bruyne was “at home in Belgium on private grounds” and Hecking told Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday that City have yet to make a bid.
Widespread reports in England earlier this week claimed City had made a second bid of around £47 for the Belgium international, but Hecking said: “I have not heard from Manchester City.”
On the former Chelsea midfielder’s absence from training, he added: “Don’t worry. You won’t hear that Kevin is leaving us.”
Despite Hecking’s claim, Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Wednesday that City are still waiting for an official response to their €67m bid.
The report added that De Bruyne has been offered a five-year contract, worth €320,000 (£228,000) a week, which would see him become the best-paid Belgian player of all time. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, the current top earning Belgian, is reported to earn €280,000 (£200,000).
In an interview published in Wednesday’s edition of Sport Bild, Hecking was asked whether the DFB Pokal winners had enough quality in the squad to compensate for a potential De Bruyne sale.
“Given his current form, Kevin would be hard to replace for any club,” he said. “But should he leave us one day, then we have to spread the responsibility onto many other players’ shoulders, because every departure is also a chance for others.
“Our squad is strong enough, even though it hardly needs to be said that a player like Kevin makes the difference.”
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