Irish Daily Mail

Saudis start to sniff around KDB

- by Jack Gaughan

MANCHESTER City are set to field bids for Kevin De Bruyne as the top Saudi Pro League clubs step up interest in landing the world’s best creator.

The 32-year-old is seen as the player to further lift the division’s appeal and Mail Sport has learned that officials are intensifyi­ng their efforts to tempt him away from the Premier League.

De Bruyne’s contract expires at the end of next season and he is yet to offer an indication on his future plans. Talks over fresh terms with the Treble winners have not started.

De Bruyne has been in stunning form for City since returning from hamstring surgery with seven assists and two goals to his name in seven appearance­s.

Four of those were off the bench, underlinin­g his impact on Pep Guardiola’s team, but De Bruyne sat out the midweek victory over Brentford with a niggle in the hamstring.

He is expected to travel with the City team for today’s trip to Bournemout­h before they face Luton Town in the FA Cup fifth round at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday. ‘I don’t know if he’s 100 per cent but we took good decisions not to take a risk against Brentford,’ Guardiola said.

Sports director of the Pro League, Michael Emenalo, attended one of City’s training sessions during the Club World Cup before Christmas as De Bruyne worked on his comeback from five months out.

Emenalo, who signed De Bruyne at Chelsea from Genk in 2012, accepted an invitation to watch and sat alongside City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristai­n.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund own majority stakes in Al Ittihad, Al Ahli, Al Nassr and Al Hilal, with one of the quartet the most likely to land the world’s biggest stars. City did business with Saudi last summer as Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte opted for moves to Al Ahli and Al Nassr respective­ly. The pair went for a combined £54million.

Meanwhile, Guardiola has warned Manchester United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe that the trick is not to restore the club’s former glories but to sustain success.

Ratcliffe has been effusive in his praise of City’s cross-town rivals this week after studying the specifics of their executive hierarchy. United moved quickly to appoint Omar Berrada as chief executive, with moves for Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth ongoing.

Guardiola believes Ratcliffe’s deference towards City shows they are becoming more serious.

‘You don’t have success if all the elements of the club are not together, it’s impossible,’ he said.

‘It’s not about being worried about United. I’m pretty sure with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the other people that United are going to take a step forwards.

‘I feel that they know exactly what they have to do, appoint the people they need to appoint with their experience in the business world to make projects better.

‘It’s not difficult over a short period, but for a long period, it’s impossible. When I’ve been below teams I’ve always admired them and thought about what we need to do to be close, to challenge them. These are real competitiv­e people.’

Guardiola revealed that he has looked closely at some of history’s great teams and individual­s in order to achieve longevity at the Etihad Stadium.

The Catalan added: ‘The proof we are doing the most difficult thing in sport is that people believe you have to win and win. Still, we are there. After what happened over seven or eight years. Few clubs can do it and still we are there.

‘Look at Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal. The biggest dynasties in the NBA. It’s not easy in the NBA to have a team like the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan.’

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Saudi target: De Bruyne is a man in demand
GETTY IMAGES Saudi target: De Bruyne is a man in demand

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