“What’s going to happen” – Pep Guardiola remains coy on Kevin De Bruyne’s Manchester City future | OneFootball

Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne and his future at the club remains somewhat unknown from the perspective of manager Pep Guardiola, speaking this week.

The 33-year-old is rapidly approaching the end of his existing Manchester City contract, and with no immediate talks over an extension in sight from either party, questions are growing over whether this will be the Belgian’s final campaign at the Etihad Stadium.

Coupled with those doubts are De Bruyne’s decreasing performances in the eyes of some and his ability to change games in the way he would do in previous seasons. However, his flashes of brilliance remain ever-present, and an extended deal may be warranted.

There have been recent reports suggesting that Kevin De Bruyne may be open to the idea at remaining at Manchester City beyond this season, and accepting a more subdued role within Pep Guardiola’s first-team set-up given the stage of his career that he is at.

But with that being said, uncertainty over the attacking midfielder’s future remains from the side of Pep Guardiola in particular, who has been unable to provide any additional clarity on the subject when asked about the matter during this week’s press conference.

“He’s an exceptional player, was and is, and hopefully will be,” Guardiola responded when asked for an update on Kevin De Bruyne’s contract prior to Manchester City’s trip to face Tottenham in the Premier League this week.

He continued, “What’s going to happen, mainly belongs to him and the club.”

The summer could represent a major rebuild for Manchester City as club officials, led by incoming sporting director Hugo Viana, look to bring in a new generation of this Etihad Stadium first-team squad for the coming years.

On whether this will be the greatest challenge of his managerial career, Pep Guardiola responded to reporters this week, “No. We have done it already; after nine years it’s not the same team that we started with nine years ago.

“We have done it two or three times already. It’s not the biggest challenge. The challenge I had was when I was started my managerial career and with my staff and a lot of tasks when we were together and proving myself and as a staff that we can do it.”

The expectation in various quarters is that despite spending around £175 million on four new arrivals during the January transfer window, Manchester City are preparing to bring in at least another four new names in the summer months.

A number of positions are currently being assessed by the club including the full-back roles, central and attacking midfield, and potentially the forward line despite the addition of Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Goalkeeper could also be a position that comes under the microscope, largely depending on whether Ederson indicates a continued desire to take up an opportunity in Saudi Arabia after interest first emerged from the middle-east in the Brazilian last summer.