The Saudi Pro League have secured deals for numerous Premier League players over the past couple of years.
From Manchester City, Al Nassr signed Aymeric Laporte and Al Ahli signed Riyad Mahrez during the previous summer transfer window.
Despite that, Pep Guardiola’s side still managed to regain the Premier League title last season, becoming the first side to win four league trophies in a row.
Now though, some behind-the-scenes information has emerged regarding another current City player who has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.
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Kevin De Bruyne has verbally agreed to join Saudi Pro League club according to journalist
In a recent post shared on his official X account, journalist Rudy Galetti had this to say on the situation.
He said: “Verbal understanding reached between Al Ittihad and [Kevin] De Bruyne. A delegation of the PIF and some representatives of the [Saudi] club spoke to the [Belgian] player, who gave his approval to the transfer. Now it’s up to clubs: Man City are open to letting him go.”
De Bruyne’s departure would be a big blow for City
With nine years under his belt at the Etihad Stadium, the Belgian has scored 102 goals and supplied 170 assists in 382 appearances across all competitions, winning many trophies along the way.
Looking back over his previous season with City, who paid £54m to sign the midfielder back in 2015, even though he missed a lot of it through injury, De Bruyne still managed to score four goals and deliver 10 assists in 18 Premier League appearances.
In fact, he ended the campaign with the highest rate of shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (7.36) and goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (1.18) in the division.
This highlights how effective De Bruyne, who Gabby Agbonlahor recently claimed is starting to slow down, is when it comes to creating goalscoring chances and why we think his potential departure to Saudi Arabia would be a big blow for City.
