KEVIN DE BRUYNE has “verbally agreed” a transfer to Saudi Arabia according to reports.
The Manchester City midfielder was knocked out of the Euros after his side Belgium were beaten 1-0 by France on Monday.
De Bruyne could leave Manchester City this transfer window[/caption]Italian journalist Rudy Galetti reports that members of the Saudi delegation, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), met with De Bruyne‘s representatives.
He claims that De Bruyne’s people have given the green light for the transfer.
It is now down to Al-Ittihad and Manchester City to agree on a transfer fee.
Jeddah based club Al-Ittihad finished fifth in the Saudi Pro-League last season.
They also failed with a bid to bring in Fulham coach Marco Silva to become their new manager this week.
De Bruyne, 33, would be joining the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho if he were to join the club.
De Bruyne has just one year left on his Manchester City contract.
The club are traditionally reluctant to hand out extensions of longer than a year to players aged over 30.
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That saw former captain Ilkay Gundogan leave on a free transfer to Barcelona last summer despite coming off the back of a fine season with City.
De Bruyne has appeared open to a Manchester City exit when talking about his future in the past.
He told Belgian outlet HLN that his wife would be open to an “exotic adventure” should the opportunity present itself for a move abroad.
He said: “For Michele, an exotic adventure is OK. These are also conversations that we are increasingly having as a family.
“I still have one year left on my contract, so I have to think about what could happen.
“My eldest is now eight years old and knows nothing but England. He also asks how long I will play for City.
“Once the moment comes, we will have to deal with it in a certain way.”
Pressed on the idea of moving to the Saudi Pro League, De Bruyne added: “At my age you have to be open to everything.
“You’re talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that.
“If I play there for two years, I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money.
“Before that, I had to play football for 15 years. I may not even reach that amount yet.
“Then you have to think about what that could mean next. But at the moment I haven’t had to think about that yet.”
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