Kevin De Bruyne could soon be reunited with a former Manchester City teammate at Napoli and it’s not even Jack Grealish.
It’s been a summer of transformation for Manchester City, with many of the legends that secured past success being ushered out the door to make room for fresh blood.
The biggest casualty has been the icon Kevin De Bruyne, who was released upon the expiration of his contract in June.
De Bruyne had frustrations over the decision and is determined to prove he can still be a footballing force in Europe, prompting a move to Napoli rather than winding down his career in Saudi Arabia or America.
Though Ederson is surprisingly set to stay despite the signing of James Trafford, John Stones and Jack Grealish could both leave the Etihad Stadium.
Grealish, in particular, is set to depart after he wasn’t in the Club World Cup squad and has already been replaced by Rayan Cherki.
Napoli are one of the clubs said to be interested, while Gabriel Agbonlahor wants Grealish back at Aston Villa.
However, Napoli have a choice of heroic former City wingers to sign as they have now been offered Raheem Sterling.
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Napoli offered the chance to sign Raheem Sterling
Speaking on his YouTube channel, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed that Chelsea have offered Italian champions Napoli the chance to sign Sterling.
He said: “Raheem Sterling back to Chelsea from Arsenal, he’s completely out of the Chelsea project.
“Napoli have been offered the possibility to sign Sterling. Let’s see what Napoli decides to do.
“They were also offered Jack Grealish in June, but they were not so convinced because of the financial part of the deal. Let’s see what happens with Sterling.
“Napoli today asked for the conditions of the deal, let’s see what’s going to happen with Raheem Sterling but he’s another player who’s going to leave Chelsea this summer transfer window.
“We know about Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, who could also be on the move, many movements away from Chelsea.”
Chelsea signed Sterling from City for £47.5m in 2022 in a deal they must regret. The 30-year-old spent last season on loan at Arsenal, managing a single goal in 28 appearances.
Who will Manchester City sell in the summer transfer window?
Trafford’s imminent £27m transfer will take City’s spending in the transfer window up to £156.1m.
Though Liverpool have far outspent them in the current window, the Blues also splashed out £172.1m in January to recruit Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
That’s a massive outlay in a single year, and City will soon have to make further sales following Kyle Walker’s move to Burnley to balance the books.
The players who could still raise some funds on include:
- Jack Grealish
- John Stones
- James McAtee
- Stefan Ortega
- Matheus Nunes
- Nico Gonzalez
- Kalvin Phillips
Thankfully, the bulk of City’s incomings will be completed with the arrival of Trafford.
The only position that could use some extra reinforcement is right-back, but they’ll struggle to sign Tino Livramento this window.
