On Monday, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned UEFA’s decision to ban Manchester City from European competitions for the next two years.
This would come as a welcome boost for the Citizens in not only bringing in new players to the club, but also in retaining their stars.
On July 8th, Het Belang van Limburg explained Kevin De Bruyne could leave the Etihad if City were banned from the Champions League for the next two seasons.
These claims were, however, dismissed by the 29-year-old’s representative later that day.
Today’s edition of HBVL has a report on CAS’s verdict and they have also managed to get a comment from the Belgium international’s agent, Patrick De Koster. The latter admitted his client is delighted with the ruling in favour of the English club.
“If you are banned from the Champions League at that age (De Bruyne is 29 at his peak), you should think again.”
The former Chelsea man has a contract with Pep Guardiola’s side until 2023, and De Koster stressed there are only a few clubs who could afford De Bruyne.
“We’ll see. He now has a three-year contract in Manchester, is settled with his family and is feeling good. They have also always been very good with him. Moreover, the number of clubs that can pay him [his salary] is not that big,” the agent explained.
“He sees participation in the Champions League next season mainly as a bonus. But that decision doesn’t mean more to him. It is not the case that we will now sign a new contract in Manchester tomorrow.”