'De Bruyne off to City' – Wolfsburg director

Wolfsburg expect Kevin De Bruyne’s departure to Manchester City to be completed within the next 48 hours, club director Klaus Allofs said on Friday.

De Bruyne sat out Wolfsburg’s 3-0 win over Schalke on Friday night, watching from a stadium box and taking photographs in fans.

And Allofs, who a day earlier called City’s offer “astonishing,” confirmed that De Bruyne’s deal is all but sealed.

“We will complete everything either tonight or tomorrow,” Allofs told reporters. “De Bruyne is off to Manchester City.

“I explained at the presser [on Thursday] that we had begun talks, those talks have progressed. Now only minor issues remain.”

Reports have placed Manchester City’s bid as high as £58 million for the Belgium international.

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.

Wolfsburg are also in the process of finalising Ivan Perisic’s move to Inter Milan, with the Serie A club hoping to sign the player as soon as possible.

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