De Bruyne close to Man City move – agent

Kevin de Bruyne’s move from Wolfsburg to Manchester City could finally be completed on Thursday, according to his agent.

Reports in Germany suggested the two clubs, who have been in talks for some time, had agreed a £58 million deal for the Belgium international midfielder.

De Bruyne’s agent Patrick de Koster insisted no fee has been finalised, but said the Premier League champions are close to completing a move for the coveted midfielder.

“There is no final agreement,” he told Sky Sports News. “Maybe there will be tomorrow [Thursday].”

De Bruyne is set to replace Raheem Sterling, who cost £49m, as City’s record signing and his arrival would take their summer spending to around £150m.

They also brought in young strikers Enes Unal and Patrick Roberts plus the £31.5m defender Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia.

They had long since identified Sterling and De Bruyne as two of their three main summer targets, along with Paul Pogba, but their interest in the Juventus midfielder cooled.

Wolfsburg are set to make a huge profit on De Bruyne, who cost £18m when he joined them from Chelsea in January 2014.

The 24-year-old went on to score 16 goals and record 27 assists last season as Wolfsburg finished as runners-up in the Bundesliga and won the German Cup.

He was named the Bundesliga Player of the Year and also attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain, before they signed Angel Di Maria from Manchester United for £44 million.

Bayern Munich had also been linked with De Bruyne, but they denied earlier this week that a bid for De Bruyne was planned.

At £58m, he would become the second most expensive signing ever made by an English club after Di Maria, who joined United for £59.7m last year, and the costliest in this transfer window.

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